Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

UK's Most Secretive Court Rules GCHQ Mass Internet Surveillance Was Unlawful

Posted by Soulskill on from the prepare-to-not-be-punished dept.

Hammeh writes: Today marks the first time in its history that the Investigative Powers Tribunal (IPT), who are responsible for oversight and complaints relating to all of the UK intelligence agencies, upheld a complaint against GCHQ, stating that accessing data provided to them by the NSA was in breach of human rights. The ruling comes as the saga into online privacy continues to unfold. Last year, the same court ruled that internal surveillance of British citizens did not breach human rights. The difference: NSA data is claimed to have sidestepped the protections provided by the UK legal system. The tribunal also noted that although the UK government was willing to admit that Prism and Upstream existed (both NSA programs outed by Edward Snowden), they would not comment on the existence or non-existence of the Tempora program.

9 of 44 comments (clear)

  1. Wow ... by gstoddart · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The difference: NSA data is claimed to have sidestepped the protections provided by the UK legal system.

    Are we finally going to start seeing courts saying that the 5 eyes cheating to get around the legalities of spying on their own people by having other governments do it is a terrible idea?

    Because that would be fucking awesome. When a government has been told "you can't do this" and "this is your evidentiary standard" -- to subsequently say "well, we got it this way, it was they who broke the law so it's OK" -- well that's pretty douchebaggy.

    I would dearly love to see courts saying "Gee, the NSA has broken our law, and no matter if they think it's legal it isn't".

    These assholes have decided they have no jurisdiction, and I'd like to see someone remind them that they do.

    The world hasn't consented to be spied on by the NSA, so I'd love to see them and their counterparts brought up onto shorter leashes. Or shorter ropes.

    They're like dogs who bite, if you don't get that under control you might have to put them down. And if they're going to sidestep the law, then they definitely should be put down.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:Wow ... by gstoddart · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The world isn't supposed to consent to being spied upon by the NSA. If the world did consent, there'd be no point in having an NSA.

      Well, allow me to make this clear on behalf of the rest of the world ...

      If the choice is between my privacy and liberty versus the lives of Americans ... I will choose that Americans have to die before I give up my rights. Because if you think your rights are more important than my rights I don't give a fuck about you.

      So America's sense of entitlement doesn't mean the rest of the world agrees.

      Stop acting like the rest of the world should simply be saying "well, if it's for the security of Americans it's alright". It isn't.

      There was a time when Americans would be outraged at this shit. Now they just say how it's OK because that's the job of the NSA.

      Honestly, America is a bigger threat to the liberties of more people in the world than any Jihadi is.

      And it's time we stopped pretending that a global surveillance state foisted on us by you guys is acceptable.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  2. Re:Stupid title, stupid article. by The+Real+Dr+John · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Legal vs. Illegal is not really the point. This is more like something I would expect from the Stasi in a police state rather than something that is going on in a supposed Democracy with supposed constitutional protections. Yes Slashdot, there is something to see here, don't move along.

    --
    A brain is a terrible thing to waste... Mind? That's debatable.
  3. And the mass surveillance will continue unabated by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 4, Insightful

    National espionage agencies operate outside the law these days anyway.

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  4. Re:obvious answer by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 4, Insightful

    No, it's time to apply the law.

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  5. Re:obvious answer by jodido · · Score: 3, Insightful

    No again, it's time to recognize that the law means nothing when it comes to government spying.

  6. Re:And the mass surveillance will continue unabate by ColdWetDog · · Score: 3, Insightful

    And people think that the Illuminati isn't real.....

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  7. It's funny reading this stuff by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I mean, in a sardonic way. They go to such great lengths to say "IT'S ILLEGAL!!!" and "THEY CAN'T DO THAT". They dance around, yell about all this, and they're doing that so that you won't notice something conspicuous in its absence: consequences.

    Imagine if you robbed a liquor store and went to court and the judge yelled about how it's illegal to rob liquor stores, you should have known that, yes, you, liquor store robber! You law breaker! Scoundrel! You're terrible, I can't believe you robbed the liquor store. Okay, you can leave now, just don't rob any more liquor stores because it's illegal to do that!

    It's ludicrous, really. We need to understand that these issues are far more serious than people knocking off liquor stores and it's time we started treating it as such. Real consequences for those who broke the law - and I don't mean the minimum security marriott.

    --
    Do you have ESP?
  8. Violation of the Charter itself by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 3, Insightful

    But we all knew that.

    However: will anyone DO anything about it?

    Does Scotland have to secede to get your attention?

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --