[Sheflug] Home Office consultations

[Richard Ibbotson <richard [at] xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi

This just arrived from Jim Jackson at Wylug.  You might want to read 
up on this and take it seriously ?.........



At about 11am today, the Home Office will be publishing two
 consultation documents that are highly relevant to all of us both as
 operators of computer networks and as users of computer and
 telephone systems. Both consultation periods are to last till early
 June. Since the
consultations refer to related topics, publishing them together could
 be seen as either helpful or confusing, I hope the following
 information will remove at least some of the confusion!

The first consultation is entitled "Access to communications data -
respecting privacy and protecting the public from crime". The subject
 is access to information about communications (e.g. who owns a login
 account, when you were logged in, who you sent e-mails to, but NOT
 the content of messages). Indications from the Home Office are that
 the paper will seek the public's view on what access to this
 information is acceptable in the interests of preventing crime.
 Clearly this relates in part to section 22 of the Regulation of
 Investigatory Powers Act [1] and the powers of data access it
 contains, however the paper should be more wide-ranging than just
 that section. It should also contain much more detail than last
 summer's unfortunate Statutory Instrument which sought to extend the
 powers without giving much explanation of why this was necessary.
 The Home Office have stated that they particularly want the views of
 the public in this consultation so I'd encourage all of you to read
 the paper and send in your response to the Home Office. 
 ................This consultation should be at the URL
 http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/ripa/part1/consult.htm

There is little point in having access powers if no data is kept in
 the first place, so the second consultation, entitled "A
 consultation paper on a code of practice for voluntary retention of
 communications data", deals with the retention of data by
 communication service providers. This should lead to the voluntary
 code of practice required by Part 11 of the Anti-Terrorism, Crime
 and Security Act [2]. It's worth noting that the definition of
 communication service providers in that Act is very widely drawn,
 including anyone who runs a network that is connected to a public
 telecommunications system. Since most networks now have some
 connection to the Internet, that includes universities and colleges,
 businesses, and probably quite a lot of homes! Although the Act
 states that the Code must initially be voluntary, there are also
 powers to enforce it, so when reading this consultation bear in mind
 that you might one day be required by law to implement it on your
 own network. ............... This consultation will be at the URL
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/oicd/antiterrorism/consult.htm

[1] http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/20000023.htm
[2] http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2001/20010024.htm




-- 
Thanks



Richard

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