In mid November 2016 the UK Parliament passed the Investigatory Powers Bill (the Bill) which has already been called the "Snooper's Charter". The above-mentioned Bill expands the authorities of the British security services and police force to track, trace and hack communications made through the Internet, telephone and messaging services. The Bill introduces the following features:

  1. HACKING. For the first time, security services will be able to hack into computers, networks, mobile devices, servers and more under the proposed plans. This could include downloading data from a mobile phone that is stolen or left unattended, or installing software that tracks every keyboard letter pressed on a laptop.
  2. BULK INTERFERENCE. This allows for large scale hacks to take place in "large operations". Meaning that data can be gathered from "a large number of devices in a specified location".
  3. SPECIAL COMMISSIONERS. Warrants must be issued for hacking to take place. To help oversee the new powers, the Home Office is introducing new rules to approve warrants and handle issues that arise from the new powers. The Investigatory Powers Commissioner (IPC) and judicial commissioner will be appointed by the prime minister.
    The IPC will be a senior judge supported by other high court judges. The IPC will audit compliance and undertake investigations. The Commissioner will report publicly and make recommendations on what he finds in the course of his work.
  4. WEB RECORDS. Under the Bill, the security services and police force will be able to access communications data when it is needed to help their investigations. This means that so-called Internet Connection Records will have to be stored for 12 months.

Communications service providers, which include everything from internet companies and messaging services to postal services, will have to store metadata about the communications made through their services.

  1. DECIPHERED INFORMATION. The Bill also stipulates that internet providers and telecom operators must provide Connection Records in a deciphered state, meaning that all end-to-end encryption will become exposed to the security services and police force.

A similar bill was passed by the Russian Parliament earlier this year (in June 2016) known as the Yarovaya Bill1.

The Yarovaya Bill also introduced the recording of all information transferred through all communication channels. This includes records of all telephone calls and messages, photos, videos and other data for a period of 6 months and all metadata of these telephone calls and messages for a period of 3 years and metadata of internet communications for a period of 1 year.

The Yarovaya Bill also forces all providers ormation in a deciphered state or provide a decryption mechanism, key, etc. Hacking and bulk interference has already been regulated by previous legislation in the field of investigative activities known in Russia as SORM, but the Yarovaya Bill amended this procedure. Usually, according to Russian legislation, interference or access to records must be sanctioned by the court. But now, in cases where interference and access is urgently required in order to prevent a crime, the security services and police force may initiate these activities before acquiring the permission of the court if they provide notice to the court within 24 hours. In this case permission must be obtained within 48 hours otherwise these activities must be stopped.

We tend to think that this is an international trend to control the Internet in the fight against terrorism. International companies who own and operate the various social networks and online messaging services seek relief in civil rights organizations and the UN, proclaiming these activities as a breach of the constitutional right to private correspondence, but ultimately this trend has established a strong position with most governments and probably will soon become the standard of privacy regulations worldwide.

Footnotes

1 Named after the MP who introduced this bill – Irina Yarovaya.

First published 16th November

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.