Disclosure
40. The disclosure of BCD outside the Agency which holds can only occur if
certain conditions are complied with:
“4.4.1 The disclosure of BCD must be carefully managed to ensure that it only
takes place when it is justified on the basis of the relevant statutory disclosure
gateway. The disclosure of an entire bulk communications dataset, or a subset,
outside the Intelligence Service may only be authorised by a Senior Official or
the Secretary of State.
4.4.2 Disclosure of individual items of BCD outside the relevant Intelligence
Service may only be made if the following conditions are met:
- that the objective of the disclosure falls within the Service’s statutory
functions or is for the additional limited purposes set out in sections 2(2)(a)
and 4(2)(a) of the ISA 1994 and section 2(2)(a) of the SSA 1989;
- that it is necessary to disclose the information in question in order to achieve
that objective;
- that the disclosure is proportionate to the objective;
- that only as much of the information will be disclosed as is necessary to
achieve that objective.”
41. Again, guidance is given to staff on the requirements of necessity and
proportionality, in terms similar to those relating to acquisition, but with
specific reference to disclosure:
“When will disclosure be necessary?
4.4.3 In order to meet the ‘necessity’ requirement in relation to disclosure,
staff in the relevant Intelligence Service and (as the case may be) the Secretary
of State must be satisfied that disclosure of the BCD is ‘really needed’ for the
purpose of discharging a statutory function of that Intelligence Service.
The disclosure must also be “proportionate”
4.4.4 The disclosure of the BCD must also be proportionate to the purpose in
question. In order to meet the ‘proportionality’ requirement, staff in the
relevant Intelligence Service and (as the case may be) the Secretary of State
must be satisfied that the level of interference with the right to privacy of
individuals whose communications data is being disclosed, both in relation to
subjects of intelligence interest and in relation to other individuals who may
be of no intelligence interest, is justified by the benefit to the discharge of the
Intelligence Service’s statutory functions which is expected as a result of
disclosing the data and the importance of the objective to be achieved. Staff
must consider whether there is a reasonable alternative that will still meet the
proposed objective - i.e. which involves less intrusion. For example, this could
mean disclosure of individual pieces of communications data or of a subset of
the bulk communications data rather than of the whole bulk communications
dataset.”
42. Prior to any disclosure of BCD, staff must also take reasonable steps to ensure
the intended recipient organisation “has and will maintain satisfactory
arrangements for safeguarding the confidentiality of the data and ensuring
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