THE KEY BATTLES FACING MRS MAY
THE Anderson report sets the stage for three key battles when the Home Secretary produces her proposals for a spying law in the autumn. Here, JAMES SLACK, examines these crucial flashpoints.
Judges should sign warrants for intrusive surveillance
CURRENTLY, warrants to intercept communications, install bugs and carry out the most intrusive types of spying are signed by the Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary or Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Mrs May alone signed 2,345 requests last year.
Anderson says this power should instead pass to full-time judicial commissioners who would be available to the police and security services 24 hours a day. Anderson says this would relieve the burden on the Home Secretary and ‘improve public confidence in the system’.
However, Mrs May and Downing Street both signalled yesterday they would reject the recommendation – potentially triggering a ferocious battle in the Commons and Lords.
Civil liberties groups, Labour and some Tory backbenchers say it is the most significant part of Anderson’s report.
Net firms should record a person’s every website visit
THIS proposal was central to the ‘snoopers’ charter’ which was blocked by the Lib Dems in the last Parliament.
Anderson says he has ‘ no doubt’ the data would be useful to the security services but this alone is not sufficient to justify such a power – which does not exist in any other European country or member of the ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence sharing group (which includes Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US, as well as Britain).
However, security officials and the police continue to insist that having access to the data is vital – a view shared by No 10 and Mrs May.
If she does press ahead, she can expect opposition from the SNP and Liberal Democrats in the Commons, as well as heated clashes in the Lords.
The Government can expect similar opposition if it persists with a proposal to require the retention of ‘ third party data’ – such as forcing an internet company to record a Skype call. Anderson said it would require a warehouse the size of a field for the servers needed to store all the data.
US internet firms must hand over data and the ‘key’ to encrypted websites and apps
ANDERSON says the biggest threat facing the security services is a lack of access to information held by companies based overseas, particularly in the US.
In the wake of the Snowden revelations, they have been reluctant to co-operate with the authorities unless compelled to do so by law, in order to burnish their credentials as being champions of privacy.
The report says the US firms may be more likely to comply if the request comes direct from a British judge, but this is by no means certain. Anderson also says the companies must be prepared to give spies access to encrypted apps which are increasingly used by terrorists and paedophiles.
David Cameron – anticipating the struggle ahead – yesterday suggested a new UK/US treaty may be required to make American companies respect Britain’s wishes.