of accurate information, obtained at speed, is considerable. I accept the claims
of MI5 and MI6 that their work would be substantially less efficient without the
use of BPDs and GCHQ’s claim that it finds BPDs useful to enrich information
obtained through other means.
8.36.
In some areas, particularly pattern analysis and anomaly detection, no
practicable alternative to the use of BPDs exists. These areas of work are vital,
since they can provide information about a threat in the absence of any other
intelligence seed. The case studies included a cogent example of the value of
pattern analysis (A11/2).
8.37.
The use to which bulk data can be put is in the course of rapid evolution. MI5
recognised in July 2015 that the development of new technologies and data
types, including machine learning and predictive analytics, offered “additional
promise” in this field. Future decision-makers authorising and approving the use
of BPDs will have to be aware of these technological advances, and the effect
that they have both on the availability of alternatives and on the extent of
intrusion involved in the use of BPDs.
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