‘Underhand & undemocratic’: UK govt quietly legalizes GCHQ hacking
Published time: May 18, 2015 15:52
"...“It appears no regulators, commissioners responsible for
overseeing the intelligence agencies, the Information
Commissioner's Office, industry, NGOs or the public were notified
or consulted about the proposed legislative changes. There was no
public debate,” the privacy rights organization wrote.
Privacy International also said it was unaware of the legislative shift until after the measures had been implemented..."
Privacy International also said it was unaware of the legislative shift until after the measures had been implemented..."
The new powers were brought in without the normal parliamentary process, according to Privacy International, who says that an amendment to the Computer Misuse Act was pushed through without consultation.
“It appears no regulators, commissioners responsible for overseeing the intelligence agencies, the Information Commissioner's Office, industry, NGOs or the public were notified or consulted about the proposed legislative changes. There was no public debate,” the privacy rights organization wrote.
Privacy International also said it was unaware of the legislative shift until after the measures had been implemented.
The advocacy group suggested that the new laws were a direct response to complaints filed last year to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), which claimed UK intelligence officials were hacking computers illegally.
According to Privacy International, just weeks after the complaints were filed the government introduced changes to the Serious Crime Bill, which gave GCHQ unlimited powers to hack computers at will.
The new powers came into force on May 3, 2015.
“The Government provided an open response to the claimants’ IPT complaint on 6 February 2015, but was silent on the forthcoming passage of the Serious Crime Bill,” Privacy International wrote.
“Indeed, it was not until yesterday, a day before the parties were due in court to determine the legal issues that will be addressed in the case that the government indicated amendments to the CMA had been made.”
The new measures "grant UK law enforcement new leeway to potentially conduct cyber-attacks within the UK,” Privacy’s lawyers argue.
The chances were described as “underhand and undemocratic” by the group’s deputy director, Eric King, who added that parliamentary debate should have been a part of the process.
“The underhand and undemocratic manner in which the Government is seeking to make lawful GCHQ's hacking operations is disgraceful. Hacking is one of the most intrusive surveillance capabilities available to any intelligence agency, and its use and safeguards surrounding it should be the subject of proper debate.
“Instead, the government is continuing to neither confirm nor deny the existence of a capability it is clear they have, while changing the law under the radar, without proper parliamentary debate,” he said.