5.24.
GCHQ explained in response that, in very many instances, a targeted warrant
would not produce the same result in an overseas context. In particular:
(a) The location of some targets (e.g. A8/6-7) means that targeted interception
would not be practicable.
(b) Even in more favourable overseas locations, the cooperation of local CSPs in
giving effect to a targeted warrant might not be forthcoming, or might be
possible only after delays.
(c) The fragmentary nature of global communications, involving the division of
communications into packets, meant that a targeted warrant would not, or not
necessarily, capture all the information that GCHQ needed.
(d) The number of overseas targets could render such a regime prohibitively
cumbersome.
5.25.
Problems of delay and co-operation (5.24(b) above) would certainly have faced
those seeking to triage 1,600 leads after terrorist attacks in France (A8/3). Even
assuming that overseas CSPs had retained the necessary data and were willing
to co-operate,205 it would clearly have taken a substantial time to obtain, through
targeted means, intelligence on such a scale. The operation was being
conducted at a time at which there was an urgent need to identify imminent
threats.
205
5.26.
In the case of the Afghanistan hostages, I concluded that without the use of bulk
interception, it was highly likely that one or more hostages would have been
killed before a rescue could be attempted.
5.27.
For these reasons, I was not persuaded that a targeted warrant would be an
adequate alternative for the gathering of content overseas in cases where a
strong selector is already known.
5.28.
In its submission to the Review of 31 July 2016, Liberty analysed the bulk
interception case studies in the open Operational Case and argued that, in the
case of the first two (A8/5,10), targeted interception would have provided a
satisfactory alternative.
In respect of A8/5, Liberty contended that the
identification of terrorist connections (“contact chaining”) could be achieved
through interrogation of data obtained through targeted means, which would lead
to “the discovery of valuable targets and the rapid onset of further collection on
newly discovered targets”.
See 5.34, below
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