Case study A9/16
MI5
Understand
Counter-terrorism
In 2015 MI5 was investigating an individual it believed might be likely to commit a
spontaneous violent attack. The individual had potential access to firearms and MI5
believed that the person planned to travel to Syria and possibly aspired to conduct
attacks in the UK. Intelligence indicated that the individual had a new telephone.
Analysis of bulk acquisition data quickly identified that phone, which was then subjected
to targeted interception. Following a joint MI5 and police operation, the individual’s
activities were disrupted.
Without bulk acquisition data, identifying the phone would have required more intrusive
targeted techniques. All available methods would have been more time-consuming, and
may have resulted in more collateral intrusion, while also offering less certain prospects
of identifying the right phone. Further, had MI5 been unable to identify the phone and to
intercept the individual’s communications, it would have had less knowledge about the
individual’s plans and the risks that he posed. The police might have had to disrupt the
individual’s plans earlier than they did, causing important intelligence to be lost.
Case study A9/17
MI5
Action
Counter-terrorism
Bulk acquisition data was used in a recent operation to identify phones linked to a
dissident republican attack in Northern Ireland. The information obtained, combined with
other sources, led to the arrest and charge of an individual on terrorist offences. The
telephones were not previously known to MI5. The Review team was given information
which indicated that it would have taken more time and been considerably more
resource intensive to discover the telephones without bulk acquisition data.
177