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UK Security Agencies Unlawfully Collected Data For 17 Years, Court Rules (theguardian.com)

Posted by msmash on from the victory dept.

British security agencies have secretly and unlawfully collected massive volumes of confidential personal data, including financial information, on citizens for more than a decade, top judges have ruled. The Guardian adds:The investigatory powers tribunal, which is the only court that hears complaints against MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, said the security services operated secret regimes to collect vast amounts of personal communications data, tracking individual phone and web use and large datasets of confidential personal information, without adequate safeguards or supervision for more than 10 years. The ruling said the regime governing the collection of bulk communications data (BCD) -- the who, where, when and what of personal phone and web communications -- failed to comply with article 8 protecting the right to privacy of the European convention of human rights (ECHR) between 1998, when it started, and 4 November 2015, when it was made public. It said the holding of bulk personal datasets (BPD) -- which might include medical and tax records, individual biographical details, commercial and financial activities, communications and travel data -- also failed to comply with article 8 for the decade it was in operation until its public avowal in March 2015.

9 of 56 comments (clear)

  1. Since when? by OrangeTide · · Score: 2

    Secret police were never bound by law in any history book I've read.

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    1. Re:Since when? by npslider · · Score: 2

      What self-serving government is gong to hold accountable the agencies that give it so much power?

    2. Re:Since when? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Informative

      In the UK and EU in general the government, even the secret service, must abide by the European Charter on Human Rights. That includes things like not torturing people, not locking them in a hole without charge or reason, and not violating their privacy without good reason.

      The issue here is that bulk data collection violated the privacy of innocent people on a massive scale for years.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    3. Re:Since when? by dunkelfalke · · Score: 3, Informative

      Unfortunately, even if they don't abide, nobody really gives a shit.
      I mean, has something happened after it was discovered that CIA abducted people and tortured them at black sites in Romania and Poland, with the knowledge and help of the respective governments? Nope.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    4. Re:Since when? by npslider · · Score: 2

      The ultimate 'watchers' are simply the best of the bunch. Just like the Alpha male gets the female, so does the Alpha agency.

      In that sense.. we still live in the jungle, and this whole freedom and rights thing is just a pretty backdrop to keep the masses pacified.

    5. Re:Since when? by Loki_1929 · · Score: 2

      Super. How many of those violating the law will serve serious prison time? I'm guessing none. In other words, the law is useless bullshit specifically designed to placate a population of sheep who don't actually give a shit. Don't worry, we've got the same thing here.

      Can anyone please point out a government anywhere in the world where everyone at all levels are truly accountable for their actions and face real and lasting consequences for violations of the law under color of authority? I'm not talking about laws or rules or regulations or a targeted middle management fall guy firing; I'm talking about a place where everyone involved in illegal activities on behalf of the government goes to prison when the activities come to light.

      I'm guessing that's nowhere, yes? Great.

      --
      -- "Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."
  2. Judgement gives no protections! by garcia · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Privacy International said the judgment did not specify whether the unlawfully obtained, sensitive personal data would be deleted.

    And, more importantly, it doesn't say who, how, or when the individuals responsible for the initial collection and later usage of those data will be prosecuted and/or fined for their actions.

    So basically this is, "yup, we have your data and you know about it. Tough shit."

    Sad.

  3. Correct statement by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 2

    The problem is not so much state governments spying on their own people, which this addresses, but them having other states spy on their citizens and then "sharing" the information as "metadata" and treating assumptions as if they were facts, without being subject to critique.

    You're all serfs.

    Wait.

    No.

    Serfs have rights.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    1. Re:Correct statement by npslider · · Score: 2

      I'm sure the day is coming when big brother will require a sample of everyone's DNA, so they can keep complete copies of everyone in digital format. Then you will taken "offline" and powered up in a Virtual Machine. They could call it 'Second Life' or something appealing like that...