London Guardian
June 6, 2016
June 6, 2016
The watchdog that monitors interception of emails and phone calls by the intelligence services allowed MI5 to escape regular scrutiny of its bulk collection of communications data, according to newly released confidential correspondence.
A highly revealing exchange of letters from 2004 has been published by Privacy International (PI) before Monday’s parliamentary debate on the investigatory powers bill, sometimes called the snooper’s charter.
The campaign group argues that the letters demonstrate the relationship between government agencies and the independent organisation that is supposed to oversee and regulate their activities has been too “cosy”.
The correspondence has been disclosed in the course of legal action between PI and the government at the investigatory powers tribunal (IPT) which is due to be heard in full this year. The IPT deals with complaints about the intelligence services and surveillance by public bodies. GCHQ is alleged to be illegally collecting “bulk personal datasets” from the phone and internet records of millions of people who have no ties to terrorism and are not suspected of any crime.
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