Data protection watchdog slams Snooping Bill

The Home Office's Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Bill faced its most damning condemnation so far when the UK data protection watchdog presented its concerns to the Home Office.

The Data Protection Commission (DPC) - formerly the Data Protection Registrar (DPR) - which handles the protection of personal data in the UK, voiced a number of reservations about the Bill in a response document submitted to the Home Office during the standing committee period which ended 6 April. The DPC report contains a wide range of objections raised by Elizabeth France, commissioner of the DPC.

Francis Aldhouse, deputy commissioner of the DPC, said the organisation fears the legislation on encryption could leave individuals open to an invasion of privacy.

"If a key is demanded by a law enforcement agency, you might be entirely innocent. It might be to do with somebody else's communications but you cannot be told that your security has been prejudiced and that is a problem from our point of view," he said.

Aldhouse said the report was intended to be an advisory document based on the Human Rights Act, which is due to come into force in October this year.

He added: "Interception of communications is a breach of the right to privacy. It can be justified on special public policy grounds such as the right to investigate crime but there have to be some strict criteria which must be satisfied."

The watchdog is also concerned by the variety of authorisations required for different investigations. It favours a standard process of judicial approval regardless of the kind of investigatory power used.

Simon Davies, director general of rights group Privacy International UK, welcomed the DPR's position but said it hasn't taken its criticism far enough. "I'm disappointed. It would be useful for the commissioner - who has a privacy mandate - to have taken a stronger view. They've missed a rare opportunity to stop the Bill in its tracks," said Davies.

Proposals included in the Bill concerning police powers over encryption have been the subject of concern from civil liberties organisations and the business community.

In a written response, the Home Office said the RIP Bill is "complementary" to the Human Rights Bill. "We are committed to making the UK the best and safest place in the world for ecommerce to take place... the government fully recognises the value of encryption not just to the individual and to the ecommerce revolution, but also as a crime prevention tool in itself, for example in preventing fraud on the Internet," it stated.