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Article 12: Right to privacy in home, family and correspondence

Case Study: PRIVACY ON THE INTERNET

In the UK, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act of 2000 allows a limited group of government authorities to demand private information about people's Internet and mobile phone habits from the companies that provide connections.
A voluntary code of practice was introduced in 2001 in the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act. The government plans to strengthen this with the European directive on keeping communications data, currently in the draft phase
However, an international law firm says this directive breaches human rights legislation.
In March 2003 the government backed down from plans to allow a multiplicity of public bodies access to personal data, and instead focused on a major overhaul of who should have access.

Context

New technology poses new challenges and offers criminals new opportunities. In the past, post office "snoopers" developed techniques to open and secretly reseal envelopes. These days an email can be read or copied without the sender or recipient knowing.

An estimated 600 million people worldwide have internet access, and therefore access to email. This makes the Internet an extraordinary source of private information.

Police and security services feel they have a legitimate interest in collecting information that may lead them to detect serious crime.

The British Government, along with many other governments, has increased the police's powers to detect crime in the digital age by allowing them access to formerly private information on the Internet.

Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act

In its efforts to detect crime over the Internet, the British government introduced the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act in July 2000.

The RIP Act gives a limited group of authorities working for the police, Customs, and secret services, the right to demand information about individuals' Internet and mobile phone habits from Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and mobile phone companies.

Under the RIP Act, ISPs linking computers with the Internet can be forced to install "black boxes" which would allow security forces to monitor e-mail messages.

The authorities could also force individuals and companies to decode encrypted messages or face prosecution.

Critics fear this gives security forces powers to invade the privacy of British citizens.

The British government has admitted that the new law might result in information being inadvertently collected about innocent citizens, but that this is necessary to track, trace and tap high-tech criminals.

The Carnivore System

The UK is not alone in this controversial subject. The FBI uses a snooping system called Carnivore, which can collect and sift through hundreds of e-mails.

Carnivore piggybacks on the network run by ISP's and scans all incoming and outgoing email of people under surveillance.

Civil liberty groups decry the existence of Carnivore, saying it violates FBI operating rules which spy on named targets and do not carry out "trawling" operations.

Privacy is a major issue in the US, and many politicians and civil liberties groups are advocating new measures to establish a clear set of rules about how personal information is collected.

Support for new privacy legislation, however, has been undermined by the September 11 terror attacks. Security is now a higher priority than privacy.

"Snooper's Charter"

In the UK, Internet experts have warned that the powers granted to law enforcement agencies to scrutinise records of online activities in the wake of the terror attacks could endanger online privacy.

They are particularly critical of a measure in the Anti-Terrorism Act that enables the government to archive all internet traffic and email and requires companies to keep records of their customer's activities for much longer than they did previously.

In June 2002, the UK Home Office announced that it wished to expand the list of authorities who had access to private Internet and mobile phone records under the RIP Act to include local councils and government departments.

Internet lobbyists began to mobilise against the proposal, which they nicknamed the "snooper's charter."

They created a website called "Stand" that urged people to voice their opposition by faxing their MP. Within days, the government abandoned the proposal to expand the list of authorities who have access to records.

Revised proposals were announced in March 2003 and received a cautious welcome. Only five bodies â€“ rather than the dozens originally proposed â€“ have â€œregulated accessâ€: emergency ambulance services; fire authorities; the Maritime and Coastguard Agency; the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency; and the Atomic Energy Authority police.

The privacy debate, however, is far from over. As technology develops, the right to privacy will increasingly be challenged.

	´óÏó´«Ã½ Sites: External Sites: The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is not responsible for the content of external internet sites		Article 12: Right to privacy in home, family and correspondence Read this article in full Case Study: PRIVACY ON THE INTERNET In the UK, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act of 2000 allows a limited group of government authorities to demand private information about people's Internet and mobile phone habits from the companies that provide connections. A voluntary code of practice was introduced in 2001 in the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act. The government plans to strengthen this with the European directive on keeping communications data, currently in the draft phase However, an international law firm says this directive breaches human rights legislation. In March 2003 the government backed down from plans to allow a multiplicity of public bodies access to personal data, and instead focused on a major overhaul of who should have access. Context New technology poses new challenges and offers criminals new opportunities. In the past, post office "snoopers" developed techniques to open and secretly reseal envelopes. These days an email can be read or copied without the sender or recipient knowing. An estimated 600 million people worldwide have internet access, and therefore access to email. This makes the Internet an extraordinary source of private information. Police and security services feel they have a legitimate interest in collecting information that may lead them to detect serious crime. The British Government, along with many other governments, has increased the police's powers to detect crime in the digital age by allowing them access to formerly private information on the Internet. Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act In its efforts to detect crime over the Internet, the British government introduced the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act in July 2000. The RIP Act gives a limited group of authorities working for the police, Customs, and secret services, the right to demand information about individuals' Internet and mobile phone habits from Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and mobile phone companies. Under the RIP Act, ISPs linking computers with the Internet can be forced to install "black boxes" which would allow security forces to monitor e-mail messages. The authorities could also force individuals and companies to decode encrypted messages or face prosecution. Critics fear this gives security forces powers to invade the privacy of British citizens. The British government has admitted that the new law might result in information being inadvertently collected about innocent citizens, but that this is necessary to track, trace and tap high-tech criminals. The Carnivore System The UK is not alone in this controversial subject. The FBI uses a snooping system called Carnivore, which can collect and sift through hundreds of e-mails. Carnivore piggybacks on the network run by ISP's and scans all incoming and outgoing email of people under surveillance. Civil liberty groups decry the existence of Carnivore, saying it violates FBI operating rules which spy on named targets and do not carry out "trawling" operations. Privacy is a major issue in the US, and many politicians and civil liberties groups are advocating new measures to establish a clear set of rules about how personal information is collected. Support for new privacy legislation, however, has been undermined by the September 11 terror attacks. Security is now a higher priority than privacy. "Snooper's Charter" In the UK, Internet experts have warned that the powers granted to law enforcement agencies to scrutinise records of online activities in the wake of the terror attacks could endanger online privacy. They are particularly critical of a measure in the Anti-Terrorism Act that enables the government to archive all internet traffic and email and requires companies to keep records of their customer's activities for much longer than they did previously. In June 2002, the UK Home Office announced that it wished to expand the list of authorities who had access to private Internet and mobile phone records under the RIP Act to include local councils and government departments. Internet lobbyists began to mobilise against the proposal, which they nicknamed the "snooper's charter." They created a website called "Stand" that urged people to voice their opposition by faxing their MP. Within days, the government abandoned the proposal to expand the list of authorities who have access to records. Revised proposals were announced in March 2003 and received a cautious welcome. Only five bodies â€“ rather than the dozens originally proposed â€“ have â€œregulated accessâ€: emergency ambulance services; fire authorities; the Maritime and Coastguard Agency; the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency; and the Atomic Energy Authority police. The privacy debate, however, is far from over. As technology develops, the right to privacy will increasingly be challenged.