- Government has changed the law via an amendment to Serious Crime Bill
- The change offers more protection to spy agencies who hack computers
- Privacy International is challenging the legality of GCHQ's spying actions
- The charity has called Government's 'underhand' behaviour 'disgraceful'
The Government has surreptitiously rewritten anti-hacking laws so that GCHQ and other law enforcement agencies can avoid criminal prosecution, it has been claimed.
Details of the
alteration emerged at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal - which is
currently hearing a challenge to the legality of computer-hacking by
the country's intelligence agencies.
The Government changed
the Computer Misuse Act (CMA) two months ago to give intelligence
agencies more protection - via a little-known addition to the Serious
Crime Bill.
The law was brought in
just weeks after the Government faced a legal challenge that GCHQ had
broken the law under the CMA by hacking computers to gather
intelligence.
The case was brought
forward by the charity Privacy International and seven internet
service providers - who claim the spy agency's actions were illegal.
[Left] Protection: The
Government has surreptitiously rewritten anti-hacking laws so that
GCHQ (headquarters, pictured) and other law enforcement agencies can
avoid criminal prosecution.
The claims follow
revelations from NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden, who said the US
and UK agencies were monitoring internet traffic on an industrial
scale.
Snowden also claimed
that GCHQ and its US counterpart – the National Security Agency –
had the ability to infect millions of computer and mobile handsets
with malware.
This would allow them
to gather huge amounts of digital content from devices, while also
listening in to phone calls, tracking users' locations and switching
on cameras and microphones.
Privacy International launched its challenge asserting the use of malware was illegal in England and Wales under the 1990 CMA.
Eric King, the deputy
director of the charity, told The Independent: 'The underhand and
undemocratic manner in which the Government is seeking to make lawful
GCHQ's hacking operations is disgraceful.
'Hacking is one of the
most intrusive surveillance capabilities available to any
intelligence agency, and its use and safeguards surrounding it should
be the subject of proper debate.
[Left] Revelations: US
intelligence whistle-blower Edward Snowden said the US and UK
agencies were monitoring internet traffic on an industrial scale.
'Instead, the
Government is continuing to neither confirm nor deny the existence of
a capability it is clear they have, while changing the law under the
radar.'
Government sources say
the amendment did not alter the law as the enforcement agencies
already had powers to hack under the Intelligence Services Act.
Parliamentary guidance notes explaining the amendment to the Serious Crime Bill state that its purpose was to 'remove any ambiguity over the interaction between the lawful exercise of powers … and the offence provisions.'
Privacy International
say this fails to properly explain the amendment's impact.
The charity also claims
that the Government failed to notify regulators, commissioners and
the public of the change before it came into law, taking effect on
May 3.
Privacy International
added that it wasn't the first time the Government has changed the
law - pointing out that in February, a code of practice for GCHQ was
released which gives 'spy agencies sweeping powers' to hack people
not even suspected of a crime.
The Home Office has
rejected the activists' claims and say there have been no changes
made to the Computer Misuse Act 1990 by the Serious Crime Act 2015
that would affect the scope of spy agencies.
The full hearing is
expected later this year.
(Source)
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