Government 'backtracks on snoopers' charter provisions' in planned new spying law

The draft bill will adress the security services' ability to access communications data Credit: PA

Planned new spying laws will not allow the police automatic access to people's internet browsing histories, in a move seen as a climb down by the government.

Ahead of the publication of the controversial draft Investigatory Powers Bill it emerged the government has dropped some of its more controversial provisions.

It is understood, for example, that a proposal to restrict or ban encryption, identified as a major headache for law enforcement bodies, has been abandoned.

A supposed demand that UK communications service providers (CSPs) record and store internet traffic from companies in the US has also been withdrawn.

The government is keen to distance the new legislation from the earlier Communications Data Bill, the so-called 'Snoopers' Charter', which was abandoned in 2013 over a lack of parliamentary support.

It hopes the concessions will allow it to pass the new rules, seen as necessary for the police and security services to tackle terrorism and organised crime.

A Government source said: "We're absolutely clear that key parts of the original plans from 2012 will be dropped from the new bill."

Currently the Home Secretary has the power to sign warrants for interception operations Credit: PA

The draft bill is expected to propose a radical overhaul of the current oversight regime, including the appointment of a senior judge in a newly created role of Investigatory Powers Commissioner.

But an area of controversy that the government has remained silent on is the proposal that judges to take over from Secretaries of State - in most cases the Home Secretary - in signing warrants for interception operations.

Among the security service powers addressed by the bill will be access to communications data - meaning the details of who called who at what time, but not the content of the call.

Other areas will be the interception of electronic communication and bulk data collection, which is the capability of GCHQ to collect communications data en masse.

The data is hen used to find patterns to detect threats to national security.

Such powers already exist, but the bill would bring them all under one legal umbrella.