12
KENNEDY v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT
(5) The arrangements for the time being in force under this section for securing that
the requirements of subsection (2) are satisfied in relation to the intercepted material
or any related communications data must include such arrangements as the Secretary
of State considers necessary for securing that every copy of the material or data that is
made is stored, for so long as it is retained, in a secure manner ...”
43. Section 16 sets out extra safeguards which apply in the case of
interception of external communications only.
44. Section 19 imposes a broad duty on all those involved in interception
under RIPA to keep secret, among other matters, “everything in the
intercepted material” (section 19(3)(e)). Under section 19(4), disclosure of
such material is a criminal offence punishable by up to five years'
imprisonment.
45. Paragraph 6.1 of the Code requires all material intercepted under the
authority of a section 8(l) warrant to be handled in accordance with
safeguards put in place by the Secretary of State under section 15 of the Act.
Details of the safeguards are made available to the Commissioner (see
paragraph 57 below) and any breach of the safeguards must be reported to
him.
46. Paragraphs 6.4 to 6.8 of the Code provide further details of the
relevant safeguards:
“Dissemination of intercepted material
6.4 The number of persons to whom any of the material is disclosed, and the extent
of disclosure, must be limited to the minimum that is necessary for the authorised
purposes set out in section 15(4) of the Act. This obligation applies equally to
disclosure to additional persons within an agency, and to disclosure outside the
agency. It is enforced by prohibiting disclosure to persons who do not hold the
required security clearance, and also by the need-to-know principle: intercepted
material must not be disclosed to any person unless that person's duties, which must
relate to one of the authorised purposes, are such that he needs to know about the
material to carry out those duties. In the same way only so much of the material may
be disclosed as the recipient needs; for example if a summary of the material will
suffice, no more than that should be disclosed.
6.5 The obligations apply not just to the original interceptor, but also to anyone to
whom the material is subsequently disclosed. In some cases this will be achieved by
requiring the latter to obtain the originator's permission before disclosing the material
further. In others, explicit safeguards are applied to secondary recipients.
Copying
6.6 Intercepted material may only be copied to the extent necessary for the
authorised purposes set out in section 15(4) of the Act. Copies include not only direct
copies of the whole of the material, but also extracts and summaries which identify
themselves as the product of an interception, and any record referring to an
interception which is a record of the identities of the persons to or by whom the
intercepted material was sent. The restrictions are implemented by requiring special
treatment of such copies, extracts and summaries that are made by recording their
making, distribution and destruction.