Bulk Communications Data
Background
The Prime Minster wrote to the then Commissioner in January 2015 to ask him to extend
his oversight to include directions given by a Secretary of State under section 94 of
the Telecommunications Act 1984. It was acknowledged that the Commissioner had
previously provided limited non-statutory oversight of the use made of one particular
set of directions by the Security Service. The Prime Minister was keen to extend that
oversight to cover all use of the power.
In October 2015, IOCCO began its first review of directions issued under section 94 of the
Telecommunications Act 1984. The purpose of the review was to identify the extent to
which the intelligence agencies use section 94 directions, to assess what a comprehensive
oversight and audit function of section 94 directions would look like, and to assess
whether the systems and procedures in place for section 94 directions were sufficient to
comply with legislation and any relevant policies.
On 4 November 2015, the Home Secretary made a statement in the House of Commons3
about the then draft Investigatory Powers Bill:
“I have announced today our intention to ensure that the powers available to law enforcement
and the agencies are clear for everyone to understand. [...] There remain, however, some
powers that successive Governments have considered too sensitive to disclose, for fear of
revealing capabilities to those who mean us harm. I am clear that we must now reconcile
that with our ambition to deliver greater openness and transparency.
“The Bill will make explicit provision for all of the powers available to the security and
intelligence agencies to acquire data in bulk. That will include not only bulk interception
provided under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and which is vital to the
work of GCHQ, but the acquisition of bulk communications data, both relating to the UK
and overseas.
“That is not a new power. It will replace the power under Section 94 of the Telecommunications
Act 1984, under which successive Governments have approved the security and intelligence
agencies’ access to such communications data from communication service providers.”
On the same day, the agencies published their handling arrangements4 under section 2(2)(a)
of the Security Service Act 1989 and sections 2(2)(a) and 4(2)(a) of the Intelligence Services Act
1994 where the section 94 directions relate to the acquisition of bulk communications data.
My review of directions issued under section 94 of the Telecommunications Act 1984 was
published on 7 July 20165 and explained the scope of my oversight function.6
3 See Hansard - 4 Nov 2015: Column 971
4 See https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/473780/Handling_arrangements_
for_Bulk_Communications_Data.pdf
5 See http://iocco-uk.info/docs/56208%20HC33%20WEB.pdf
6 See Page 5 of our review report http://iocco-uk.info/docs/56208%20HC33%20WEB.pdf
www.iocco-uk.info
25