Human rights organisation Liberty has won a landmark victory in a legal challenge against government bodies’ powers to spy on the UK population. The High Court of Justice ruled that it is unlawful for security services, including MI5, MI6, and GCHQ, to obtain individuals’ communications data from telecom providers without prior independent authorization when conducting criminal investigations. Since 2016, the Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) has allowed state agencies access to private communications and personal information, including telephone records, text messages, location history, and internet browsing history.
The judgment means that security services will no longer have the power to obtain detailed information on individuals from telecom providers without first obtaining independent approval that this is necessary and proportionate. This requirement already applies to the police and will also apply to the security services. Liberty believes that the powers within the IPA are too broad and the safeguards around bulk powers fail to protect rights to privacy and free expression, including safeguards protecting journalists and their sources.
Liberty plans to apply for permission to appeal on certain points decided against it in today’s judgment, such as whether the bulk powers in the IPA permit indiscriminate and generalised data collection and whether prior independent authorisation is required each time state agencies look at our stored data. Liberty’s wider case against the IPA continues before the Court of Appeal, with Liberty having permission to proceed on five out of its six grounds.
