[8168] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
[FYI] Secret plan to spy on all British phone calls
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Axel H Horns)
Sun Dec 3 17:25:56 2000
From: "Axel H Horns" <horns@ipjur.com>
To: cryptography@c2.net
Date: Sun, 3 Dec 2000 20:41:54 +0100
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-transfer-encoding: Quoted-printable
Message-ID: <3A2AB012.31991.D3D77@localhost>
http://www.observer.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,406191,00.html
------------------------------- CUT -------------------------------
Secret plan to spy on all British phone calls
Kamal Ahmed, political editor Sunday December 3, 2000
Britain's intelligence services are seeking powers to seize all
records of telephone calls, emails and internet connections made by
every person living in this country.
A document circulated to Home Office officials and obtained by The
Observer reveals that MI5, MI6 and the police are demanding new
legislation to log every phone call made in this country and store
the information for seven years at a vast government-run 'data
warehouse', a super computer that will hold the information.
The secret moves, which will cost millions of pounds, were last night
condemned by politicians and campaigners as a sinister expansion of
'Big Brother' state powers and a fundamental attack on the public's
right to privacy.
Last night, the Home Office admitted that it was giving the plans
serious consideration.
Lord Cope, the Conservative peer and a leading expert on privacy
issues, said: 'We are sympathetic to the need for greater powers to
fight modern types of crime. But vast banks of information on every
member of the public can quickly slip into the world of Big Brother.
I will be asking serious questions about this.' Maurice Frankel, a
leading campaigner on per sonal data issues, called the powers
'sweeping' and a cause for worry.
The document, which is classified 'restricted', says new laws are
needed to allow the intelligence services, Customs and Excise and the
police access to telephone and computer records of every member of
the public.
It suggests that the Home Office is sympathetic to the new powers,
which would be used to tackle the growing problems of cybercrime, the
use of computers by paedophiles to run child pornography rings, as
well as terrorism and international drug trafficking.
Every telephone call made and received by a member of the public, all
emails sent and received and every web page looked at would be
recorded.
Calls made on mobile phones can already be pinpointed geographically,
as can those made from land lines. The police would be able to use
'trawling' computer techniques to look through millions of telephone
and email records. Campaigners say innocent people could have such
highly personal information accessed.
The document admits the moves are controversial and could clash with
the Human Rights Act, which gives people a right to privacy, European
Union law and the Data Protection Act, which protects the public
against official intrusion into private lives.
The office of the Data Protection Commissioner, Elizabeth France, has
already expressed 'grave concerns' .
'A clear legislative framework needs to be agreed as a matter of
urgency,' says the document, which is dated 10 August and is thought
to have been sent to Home Office Minister Charles Clarke.
'Why should data be retained? In the interests of justice, to
preserve and protect data for use as evidence to establish proof of
innocence or guilt. For intelligence and evidence gathering purposes,
to maintain the effectiveness of UK law enforcement, intelligence and
security agencies to protect society.'
The document is written by Roger Gaspar, the deputy director-general
of the National Criminal Intelligence Service, the Government agency
that oversees criminal intelligence in the United Kingdom. Gaspar, as
head of intelligence for NCIS, is one of the most powerful and
influential men in the field.
The report says it is written 'on behalf of Acpo [the Association of
Chief Police Officers], HM Customs and Excise, security service,
secret intelligence service and GCHQ [the Government's secret
listening centre based at Cheltenham]'.
Gaspar argues telephone companies should be ordered to retain all
records of phone calls and internet access.
At the moment many telephone and internet service providers keep data
for as little as 24 hours.
'In the interests of verifying the accuracy of data specifically
provided for either intelligence or evidential purposes, CSPs
[communication service providers such as telephone or internet
companies] should be under an obligation to retain the original data
supplied for a period of seven years or for as long as the
prosecuting authority directs,' the document says.
'Informal discussions have taken place with the office of the data
protection commissioner. Whilst they acknowledge that such
communications data may be of value to the work of the agencies and
the interests of justice they have grave reservations about longer
term data retention.' The document says the new data warehouse would
be run along similar lines to the National DNA Database for profiles
of known criminals.
It would cost about =A33 million to set up and =A39m a year to run.
The report demands that the Government 'should be prepared to defend
our position'.
A spokesman for NCIS refused to be drawn on the report. 'I am not
going to comment on a classified document that is in unauthorised
hands,' he said.
Meanwhile a Home Office spokesman said it had received the proposals
and was considering them.
------------------------------- CUT -------------------------------
For those who are able to read texts in German language:
http://www.heise.de/tp/deutsch/inhalt/te/4393/1.html
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/jk-03.12.00-006/
See also
http://cryptome.org/ncis-carnivore.htm
