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| A new report suggests that Britain needs to reevaluate its electronic surveillance laws. Image: Shutterstock |
An independent
report released last Thursday suggested that it’s time for Britain to change
its surveillance laws, both to provide security and to maintain the privacy of
individuals.
Senior
lawyer David Anderson argued that Britain’s current legislation on
electronic surveillance is “incomprehensible to all but a tiny band of
initiates” and that these laws are “without statutory safeguards.”
The 373-page
report, which took almost a year to complete, arrives at a time when Britain is
struggling with increased security threats and privacy concerns, in particular
the release of documents two years ago by Edward Snowden, formerly a contractor
with the National Security Agency.
Anderson’s report
calls for the creation of an Independent Surveillance and Intelligence
Commission to oversee other intelligence agencies and restore public faith in
these institutions. This Commission
would determine authorization for surveillance warrants—a big difference from
the organizational structure suggested by the currently-debated “snoopers
charter,” which would allow the government to extract even more data from
internet service providers about who users call, text, instant message, and
engage with on social media.
Home Secretary
Theresa May said the report’s findings would be considered but did not commit
to acting on them.
"Each intrusive power must be shown to be necessary, clearly
spelled out in law, limited in accordance with international human rights
standards and subject to demanding and visible safeguards," Anderson
said. "The current law is fragmented, obscure, under constant challenge,
and variable in the protections that it affords the innocent. It is time for a
clean slate."
For some, these are welcome insights.
Cian Murphy, a legal expert at King’s College, London, noted that “the
report acknowledges the challenges—for both privacy and security—in the current
law and sets out a blueprint for a new legal architecture. It gives Britain the best possible chance for
effective and proportionate powers, in compliance with the law and protective
of civil liberties.”
Because Britain is so influential in terms of how other European
countries set up their own intelligence agency procedures, the legal outcome of
this debate will be extremely important.
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