Open Rights Group response to ISC Privacy and Security report

Open Rights Group has responded to the Intelligence and Security Committee’s report into Security and Privacy.

Executive Director, Jim Killock said:

“The ISC’s report should have apologised to the nation for their failure to inform Parliament about how far GCHQ’s powers have grown. This report fails to address any of the key questions apart from the need to reform our out-of-date surveillance laws. This just confirms that the ISC lacks the sufficient independence and expertise to hold the agencies to account.”

A report published by Open Rights Group, has called for the reform of oversight mechanisms, including the Intelligence and Security Committee, so that they are truly independent, accountable to Parliament and have sufficient technical expertise to tackle the technical, legal and ethical issues around surveillance. We also call for reform of the laws that allow surveillance to be replaced by new comprehensive surveillance legislation that complies with human rights law and reflects the current technical landscape. 

These would mean:

• Targeted surveillance not mass surveillance
• Prior judicial authorisation for all surveillance decisions
• Increasing the legal protection for communications data so that it is the same as for the content of communications
• Ending statutory definitions that are out outdated in the digital age – such as the current distinctions between ‘internal’ and ‘external’ communications.

ORG’s report is available here: https://www.openrightsgroup.org/ourwork/reports/gchq-and-mass-surveillance