DRIP Surveillance Bill Successfully Passes Commons Vote

The controversial Data Retention and Investigatory Powers (DRIP) bill which forces telecommunications providers to continue storing and  providing access to user ‘metadata’ has passed its final reading at the House of Commons on Tuesday evening.

The new laws gathered cross-party support despite widespread criticism that they enshrine government survaillance and have been fast-tracked through parliament in just two days. Today, the Bill is heading to the House of Lords for approval, according to the BBC.

The authors of the bill claim it gives law enforcement agencies more tools to fight terrorism and child abuse. However, freedom of speech campaigners have criticised it as a substantial threat to privacy, and say there was not enough time to review such an important piece of legislation.

The bill will be debated at the House of Lords throughout Wednesday and is likely to come into effect before the summer recess, 22 July.

State of emergency

Primarily, DRIP is meant to replace a set of European regulations which required communications providers to store user metadata for up to 12 months. These regulations were found to breach citizen privacy by the European Court of Justice in April, and now are no longer in force.

The new emergency bill was designed to allow the UK’s surveillance agencies to continue requiring providers to keep metadata on their servers until December 2016, when the legislation will be reviewed. The metadata includes location, date and recipient for various types of communications including calls, emails and texts.

However, DRIP also includes provisions that legally require foreign companies that operate in the UK to cooperate in “specific UK national security or criminal investigations”, and this cooperation could include providing the content of communications.

According to the prime minister, the measure will help fight crime and terrorism, both in the UK and abroad.

“As events in Iraq and Syria demonstrate, now is not the time to be scaling back on our ability to keep our people safe. The ability to access information about communications and intercept the communications of dangerous individuals is essential to fight the threat from criminals and terrorists targeting the UK,” said David Cameron when announcing the bill on Thursday.

“I want to be very clear that we are not introducing new powers or capabilities – that is not for this parliament. This is about restoring two vital measures ensuring that our law enforcement and intelligence agencies maintain the right tools to keep us all safe.”

Under DRIP, the government will have to establish the Counter Terrorism, Privacy and Civil Liberties Board which will monitor how the powers are used.

It will also publish regular transparency reports which will reveal how many requests for information were filed by various government agencies. A similar approach was adopted in the US, where the some of the largest communications providers can publish limited information on such requests themselves.

DRIP is supported by all the main party leaders. “We know the consequences of not acting are serious, but this urgency will not be used as an excuse for more powers, or for a ‘snooper’s charter,'” previously promised Nick Clegg.

Several MPs have criticised the government for rushing the bill even though they have been aware the ECJ ruling since April. Meanwhile privacy campaigners have accused the government of misleading the public.

A joint briefing document signed by six non-profit organisations including Privacy International and Open Rights Group claims that Clause 4 of the bill grants “significant new powers” that extend the territorial scope of the interception and communications acquisition capabilities made legal under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA).

The document states that these are the same powers previously sought under the Draft Communications Data Bill, better known as the ‘Snooper’s Charter’.

” RIPA interception powers have been used to conduct bulk indiscriminate surveillance of communications as they enter and leave the United Kingdom. This Bill expands those same powers, appearing to enable the Government to issue interception warrants mandating mass surveillance outside of the United Kingdom.”

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