Town halls using anti-terror powers to bug calls and emails
Phone spies: Town halls using anti-terror powers to bug residents' calls and emails Town hall snoopers used controversial anti-terror powers to delve into the phone and email records of thousands of people last year. They wanted to check for evidence of dog smuggling and storing petrol without permission - and even to trace a suspected bogus faith healer. In one case they were inquiring into unburied animal carcasses. Some councils are allowing middle-ranking staff to authorise covert operations under the controversial Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, which is intended for use 'in the interests of national security'. <snip> Using Freedom of Information laws, 152 local councils were asked if they were using the power to intercept details of who a person phoned or emailed plus when and where the call took place. The answers revealed that town halls looked into the private data of 936 individuals and only 31 councils did not use these powers at all. If the same pattern were repeated across the remaining 322 councils, it would make a totalof around 3,000 people having their phone and email records accessed by bureaucrats. <snip> 'The law must be reformed to require sign-off by judges, not selfauthorisation by over-zealous bureaucrats.' RIPA also allows undercover council staff to watch individuals. Operations can be justified on the grounds of anything from national security to 'protecting public health or public safety', 'preventing a crime' and 'protecting the economic well-being of the UK'. This can cover dog fouling and even putting out a sack of rubbish on the wrong day. <snip> http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-1024162/Phone-spies-Town-halls-using-anti-terror-powers-bug-residents-calls-emails.html
Phone spies: Town halls using anti-terror powers to bug residents' calls and emails Town hall snoopers used controversial anti-terror powers to delve into the phone and email records of thousands of people last year. They wanted to check for evidence of dog smuggling and storing petrol without permission - and even to trace a suspected bogus faith healer. In one case they were inquiring into unburied animal carcasses. Some councils are allowing middle-ranking staff to authorise covert operations under the controversial Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, which is intended for use 'in the interests of national security'. <snip> Using Freedom of Information laws, 152 local councils were asked if they were using the power to intercept details of who a person phoned or emailed plus when and where the call took place. The answers revealed that town halls looked into the private data of 936 individuals and only 31 councils did not use these powers at all. If the same pattern were repeated across the remaining 322 councils, it would make a totalof around 3,000 people having their phone and email records accessed by bureaucrats. <snip> 'The law must be reformed to require sign-off by judges, not selfauthorisation by over-zealous bureaucrats.' RIPA also allows undercover council staff to watch individuals. Operations can be justified on the grounds of anything from national security to 'protecting public health or public safety', 'preventing a crime' and 'protecting the economic well-being of the UK'. This can cover dog fouling and even putting out a sack of rubbish on the wrong day. <snip> http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-1024162/Phone-spies-Town-halls-using-anti-terror-powers-bug-residents-calls-emails.html