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GCHQ spies read 'thousands' of private communications each day

Thousands of private communications are read by GCHQ spies every day through bulk interception methods, a long awaited report sparked by the Edward Snowden revelations has revealed.

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'Prosecute spies who abuse power' says watchdog

The Intelligence and Security Committee Credit: PA Wire

The law should be changed so that spies who abuse their power to access personal information can be prosecuted, an intelligence watchdog has said.

The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) revealed in its long-awaited report that MI5, MI6 and GCHQ have disciplined or dismissed staff for inappropriately accessing personal information through bulk data collection.

But the Committee said it was concerned to find that there is not a specific criminal offence that can be brought against those who misuse interception capabilities and that the law should be changed.

The Interception of Communications Commissioner, The Right Honourable Sir Anthony May revealed there was a "very serious case" last year, in which GCHQ employee deliberately undertook a number of unauthorised searches for related communications data.

The abuse of the systems amounted to gross misconduct and the individual was fired, the Commissioner said.

Intelligence report branded 'clueless' by Liberty director

Shami Chakrabarti calls ISC report "clueless" Credit: PA Archive

The director of human rights campaign group Liberty said that the Parliament report into intelligence agency snooping is "ineffective" and "clueless".

Shami Chakrabarti said that the Intelligence and Security Committee is a "mouthpiece for the spooks" and that agencies have acted unlawfully.

The ISC has repeatedly shown itself as a simple mouthpiece for the spooks - so clueless and ineffective that it's only thanks to Edward Snowden that it had the slightest clue of the agencies' antics.

The Committee calls this report a landmark for 'openness and transparency' - but how do we trust agencies who have acted unlawfully, hacked the world's largest sim card manufacturer and developed technologies capable of collecting our login details and passwords, manipulating our mobile devices and hacking our computers and webcams?

No doubt it would be simpler if we went along with the spies' motto of 'no scrutiny for us, no privacy for you' - but what an appalling deal for the British public.

– Shami Chakrabarti

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Blears: 'Intelligence agencies should be open and transparent'

Hazel Blears MP Credit: PA Wire

Speaking on behalf of the Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee, Hazel Blears MP said that security and intelligence agencies are "not exempt" from openness and transparency.

She said that the ISC report is the first step toward greater transparency after it revealed that the current legal framework is "unnecessarily complicated".

There is a legitimate public expectation of openness and transparency in today's society, and the security and intelligence agencies are not exempt from that.

While we accept that they need to operate in secret if they are to be able to protect us from those who are plotting in secret to harm us, the Government must make every effort to ensure that information is placed in the public domain when it is safe to do so.

This report is an important first step toward greater transparency.

Nevertheless, there is more that could and should be done. This is essential to improve public understanding and retain confidence in the vital work of the intelligence and security Agencies.

– Hazel Blears MP

GCHQ 'read thousands of private communications a day'

GCHQ intercepts and reads thousands of private communications a day, a report has found. Credit: PA Wire

GCHQ spies read thousands of private communications each day by using bulk interception methods, a long-awaited report has revealed.

Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee said that that analysts at the security organisation collect "large numbers of items", but added that they have all been "targeted in some way".

The Committee said the "incidental" collection of some innocent communications was "unavoidable", but insisted only exchanges involving suspected criminals or national security targets were deliberately chosen for examination.

The report, which was heavily redacted, said only a tiny percentage of internet traffic is selected for reading by GCHQ analysts, but added that this still amounts to several thousand items a day.

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