The Government was accused today of railroading through an emergency law to allow the state to retain personal data held by internet and telephone companies.The legislation requires that personal communications data is held for 12 months, giving law enforcement access to metadata of phone calls, emails, text messages and the like. Metadata includes information about the time messages are sent and the location of the sender, but not the actual content.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/emergency-data-law-government-railroading-through-legislation-on-internet-and-phone-records-9596695.htmlAlso see:UK government to rush through emergency surveillance legislation
The government will announce that it is rushing through emergency legislation underpinning the state’s right to keep personal data held by internet and phone companies.Labour is expected to accept the bill on the basis that it will simply restore what the government believed to be the law before the European Court of Justice ruled in April that an EU directive on privacy retention had over-reached its powers and amounted to an invasion of privacy.
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jul/10/high-court-snoopers-charterEmergency surveillance law to be brought in with cross-party support
Controversial emergency laws will be introduced into the Commons next Monday to reinforce the powers of security services to require internet and phone companies to keep records of their customers’ emails and calls.The move follows private talks over the past week and the laws will have the support of Labour and the Liberal Democrats on the basis that there will be a sunset clause and a new board to oversee the functioning of the powers.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jul/10/emergency-surveillance-laws-rushed-through-cross-party-support