11 June 2019
Green peer Jenny Jones has responded to a report on the use of the Investigatory Powers’ Act (IPA – known as the ‘snoopers’ charter’).
The campaigning group Liberty has highlighted the conclusions of the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office that MI5 had “illegally mishandled” data including calls, messages, location and web-browsing history.
Commissioner Adrian Fulford said compliance failures first became clear in January 2016, but were only brought to the IPCO’s attention in February 2019.
Jenny said: “This report has confirmed what we’ve known for some time, that the security services, as well as the police, are operating their surveillance systems without accepting that they have to operate lawfully, and in a properly targeted manner.
“I know from my own experience of being put on the domestic extremism database that valuable security time and energy are wasted on the wrong targets.
“We have to ensure the police and security services are not out of control, trampling on our human rights and civil liberties.”
Back when the Act was passed in 2016, Jenny wrote: “We have given our security services unprecedented powers to spy on us.” (2)
She said today: “They have clearly exceeded even the sweeping powers they were given, and broken the law in the process.”
Further information: contact press@greenparty.org.uk, 07967-417859
Notes
Follow this news feed: Green Party