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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.

3 of 44 comments (clear)

  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. 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.