MEDIA RELEASE-IMMEDIATE 28 June 1999

From: Internet Freedom <[email protected]>

Date: Monday, 28 June 1999 3:33 Subject: Government Plans to Intercept Net

UK GOVERNMENT PLANS GREATER INTERCEPTION OF INTERNET COMMUNICATIONS

Last week Home Secretary Jack Straw outlined plans to increase powers to intercept Internet communications. The proposals will force Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to allow police to read and track private emails and other Internet transmissions. Currently the Interception of emails is carried out on the basis of informal agreements between the police and Industry representatives following the brokering of a "memorandum of understanding" in August of last year. The new proposals will allow the police to prosecute ISPs who refuse to comply.

The new proposals will:

• extend interception to include all forms of telecommunications including the Internet
• extend interception to cover all communications relating to a particular person rather than just a single telephone line
• allow figures of authority other than the Secretary of State to authorise interception
• extend interception to include all communications service providers rather than just the Post Office and Public Telecommunications providers
• extend the period for interception from two months to between three and six months
• extend interception to include private networks
• force providers to disclose private data to the authorities without the need for a court order

Currently access to private exchanges in the UK is governed by the Interception of Communications Act 1985. This provides for the tapping of telephone conversations on the basis of a signature from the Secretary of State. About 50% of tappings fail to lead to prosecutions. The Interception of emails is only covered by this Act for those ISPs that are registered public telecommunications providers such as Demon and BT Internet. As a consequence the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) sought an informal arrangement with key industry bodies such as the Internet Service Providers Association to allow routine access to private emails and web logs without special legislation. The new proposals would formalise these arrangements in Law.

Whilst the establishment of a legal framework for the Interception of Internet communications is far preferable to informal "memoranda of understanding", the proposals represent a substantial attack on the liberties of Internet Users.

Chris Ellison said today:

"The proposals are the inevitable consequence of the momentum generated by collaboration between key industry representatives and the authorities. Once you have established that you are willing to hand over people's emails in the name of crime prevention, your hands are tied when the Government proposes to make it the Law. At the time the trade organisations argued that informal arrangements were preferable to the sledgehammer of legislation. Now we can see that one is the product of the other."

For further comment call Chris Ellison on 00 44 (0) 956 129 518

NOTES

1. Internet Freedom is one of the UK's leading cyber liberties campaigns. Their web site is at http://www.netfreedom.org (all other URLs should be regarded as temporary and should not therefore be published). They can be contacted on 00 44 (0) 171 681 1559 or emailed on [email protected].

2. The new Interception of Communications consultation paper is available at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/oicd/ioca.pdf

3. In August 1998, Computing magazine and Channel Four News both reported that a series of informal meetings were taking place between the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA). The meetings - behind closed doors - were described by the ACPO as aiming to reach a "memorandum of understanding" which would give police unrestricted access to emails and details of sites visited by Net users.