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Privacy Rights in the Digital Age

Snooper's Charter

by Christopher T. Anglim

Formally known as the Communications Data Bill; draft legislation originally proposed by Britain's Conservative government in 2012. The bill, if passed, would require Internet service providers (ISPs), mobile phone networks, and telecommunications companies in Britain to maintain records of every user's Internet browsing, social media activity, phone calls, text messages, and instant messages. The bill would expand existing communications data retention requirements and grant access to law enforcement to assist intelligence agencies and the police investigating crime and terrorism. Under current law, British ISPs may retain data, when it has been processed for normal business purposes such as billing or marketing, for twelve months, as regulated by the British Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA).

The new proposals would require telecommunications companies to keep data that would not ordinarily be retained for business purposes for up to twelve months, during which time official agencies would able be able to access the data. The original language of the draft bill does not specify what types of information that firms are required to retain. The bill added, however, that this power may be exercised only after a period of consultation with the companies and would be subject to existing data protection safeguards. Prime Minister David Cameron said that British encrypted messaging services could be outlawed unless they provide the government with backdoor access to user data.

In 2012, Cameron's government said that it was seeking passage of the bill to ensure that law enforcement and intelligence agencies have access to vital communications data under strict safeguards to protect the public. Supporters said that the bill would prevent extremists from being able to communicate with each other without being monitored by British intelligence agencies.

The proposed obligations imposed on ISPs, however, raise serious issues for both the ISPs and the British public. Critics of the bill claim that, if enacted, the legislation would grant the government very broad surveillance powers and would legally authorize it to record and store personal data on every person in Britain. Denying allegations that the bill would allow for massive and unfettered surveillance, British home secretary Teresa May claimed that the collected data would not include message contents; however, it could include who they are sent to, their frequency, and where they originated.

Critics of the bill claimed that requirements to retain more data and make it available to a growing number of recipients increase the risk of breaching data protection laws. Critics also expressed concerns that cybercriminals could hack into the database, which would be a potential bonanza for hackers, criminals, and rogue states.

Almost a year after the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government proposed the bill, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced in April 2013 that the Liberal Democrats would no longer support the legislation. The Liberal Democrats later blocked the bill. In the 2015 elections, however, Cameron won a majority of seats in Parliament, thus removing a major obstacle to the bill's passage.

Existing data protection laws apply to information about people, for example, from identifiers such as name, address, employment history, and medical records, to subtle identifiers such as social networking content, browser history, or call log. The DPA imposes several principles on organizations that use personal information, including transparency (people must be told how their information is used and by whom); organizations must not collect excessive personal information, and what they do collect should not be kept for longer than is necessary; and citizens have a right to access the data held about them by organizations and to object to processing where it causes damage and distress. These principles appear to clash with the details in the bill.

Further Reading

1 

Draft Communications Data Bill. London: Stationery Office, 2012.

2 

Draft Communications Data Bill: Session 2012–13: Report, Together with Appendices and Formal Minutes. London: Stationery Office, 2012.

3 

Rowe, Heather. “Draft UK Data Protection Bill.” Computer Law & Security Review 10, no. 5 (1994): 280.

See also: Big Data; Electronic surveillance; Metadata

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
Anglim, Christopher T. "Snooper's Charter." Privacy Rights in the Digital Age, edited by Christopher T. Anglim & JD, Salem Press, 2016. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=PRDA_0194.
APA 7th
Anglim, C. T. (2016). Snooper's Charter. In C. Anglim & JD (Ed.), Privacy Rights in the Digital Age. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Anglim, Christopher T. "Snooper's Charter." Edited by Christopher T. Anglim & JD. Privacy Rights in the Digital Age. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2016. Accessed September 17, 2025. online.salempress.com.