The Digital Rights Ireland ruling, of the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Joined Cases C‑293/12 and C‑594/12, given in 2014, declared invalid the EU Data Retention Directive (Directive 2006/24/EC). This Directive had provided the legal basis for UK regulations requiring service providers to retain communications data for…
Davis and Others vs The Secretary of State for the Home Department was a judicial challenge by the MPs David Davis and Tom Watson to the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 (DRIPA). The case was heard in the High Court of Justice, which ruled in favour of the claimants, rendering DRIPA…
The Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006, an Act of Parliament, was described by the Anderson Review as, outside of RIPA, “the key statute allowing for the interception of communications.” [1] Sections 48 and 49 grant broad powers for the interception of communications to “the Secretary of State, the Commissioners for [HMCR], or any…
The Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015, an Act of Parliament, makes provision for the retention of data by Content Service Providers (CSPs), amongst other counter-terrorist measures. Part III of the Act revises DRIPA to include mandating the retention of data regarding the allocation of IP addresses to given devices at particular times…
The Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014, an Act of Parliament, was passed in response to the Digital Rights Ireland ruling by the Court of Justice of the EU. [1] The Act’s primary provision is to restore to the Secretary of State the power to require communications service providers to retain for…
Liberty and Others v GCHQ and Others was a case combining various complaints made by privacy groups including Liberty, Amnesty International, Privacy International and others, heard by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal. The complainants alleged that the interception activities of various UK bodies including GCHQ and the Home Office contravened Articles 8, 10 and…
The Telecommunications Act 1984, an Act of Parliament, gives potentially wide-reaching power to the Secretary of State in relation to communications networks. Section 94: Directions in the interests of national security etc. (1) The Secretary of State may, after consultation with a person to whom this section applies, give to…
The Intelligence Services Act 1994 (ISA) provides the core legal basis for the surveillance activities of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). [1] As detailed in the Act, GCHQ’s first statutory function is “to monitor or interfere with electromagnetic, acoustic and other emissions and any equipment producing such emissions and to obtain and…
The Human Rights Act 1998, an Act of Parliament, incorporates the rights set down in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into UK law. Specifically, it requires that public authorities act in accordance with the rights in Articles 2-12 and 14 of the Convention, Articles 1-3 of the First Protocol, and…
The UK is a party to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), a treaty of the Council of Europe. The European Court of Human Rights, which hears individual petitions against rights violations, can declare UK law incompatible with the Convention, which usually leads to parliamentary…
