Internet service providers in the UK could soon find themselves obliged by law to cooperate with police for the interception of email and other electronic communications, under legislation proposed yesterday. The government published a consultation document outlining proposals for a modernization of the outdated Interception of Communications Act. The 1985 act covers telephone and snail-mail only, and the government wants to revise this as it brings the country into line with various European Union rulings that picked holes in the UK law.
Current regulations do not allow police to intercept communications that pass over private networks, which allows for interesting loopholes – such as cordless telephones being immune from interception, given that the space between phone and base unit counts as a private network. It also means ISPs that are not also classed as public telephone operators function as private networks and, as such, cannot be tapped, which causes inconvenience for police who then have to intercept emails before they arrive at the ISP. The new proposed law would close these loopholes, as well as force ISPs to hand over personal information held on suspects using their services.
The document was published the same day as the National Criminal Intelligence Service called for a national squad of internet police to crack down on the use of the internet for crimes such as child pornography, piracy and conspiracy. ‘Project Trawler,’ as the NCIS’s report was named, also calls for the strengthening of interception powers on the internet. The 34-page consultation document was made available late yesterday, and there has not yet been time to gauge industry or consumer reaction.
