UK: Authorities to get more power to spy out communication data
by Jane Whyatt
Britain is fast-tracking a new law to give police and secret services extra powers to collect and keep personal data. Phone calls, conversations over the internet (e.g. skype, hangouts), SMS messages and web searches will all be included. The National Union of Journalists and civil liberty groups fear it will restrict journalists’ work by exposing their confidential sources and whistleblowers.
Senior lawyer Alex Bailin QC (Queen’s Counsel, a barrister of special status) argues that the new law’s safeguards for journalists are “completely inadequate in terms of Article 10”. The article refers to the section of the European Convention…
