IPCO Annual Report 2017
9. Bulk
Communications Data
Description of powers and use
9.1
Bulk Communications Data (BCD) is a large quantity of communications data acquired from
communications service providers (CSPs), the vast majority of which is unlikely to be of any
intelligence interest. It is also sometimes known as ‘bulk acquisition’.
Legislation
9.2
Previously the Secretary of State issued directions to CSPs, under s.94 of the
Telecommunications Act 1984, which enabled the intelligence agencies, specifically MI5
and GCHQ, to obtain communications data in bulk. The power was first used at scale in
the UK in 2001 after the attacks in New York on 11 September.
9.3
The IPA repeals the s.94 powers (insofar as they relate the bulk acquisition of
communications data) and replaces them with bulk acquisition warrants. Chapter 2 Part 6
IPA enables the Secretary of State to issue a bulk acquisition warrant once it has been
approved by a Judicial Commissioner. However, for 2017 the relevant provisions of the IPA
had not come into force and we were only concerned in this Report with the s.94 powers.
Although there is no code of practice governing the use of s.94 powers, the government
published handling arrangements in 2015.46
9.4
IPCO took responsibility for overseeing the s.94 Directions in September 2017.
Utility
9.5
The government published a paper entitled the ‘Operational Case for Bulk Powers’ in order
to inform the public about the use of these provisions.47
9.6
In brief, the paper suggests that bulk communications data enables the intelligence
agencies to identify the links and frequency of contact between subjects of interest and
their associates, and to uncover networks, in order to narrow down likely targets more
quickly than otherwise would be the case. Identifying these links can help indicate whether
other investigatory powers, such as interception, are likely to be of use. This also allows the
intelligence agencies to search for traces of activity by previously unknown suspects who
surface in the course of an investigation, thereby revealing other potential threats that
need to be investigated.
46 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/473780/Handling_arrangements_for_Bulk_
Communications_Data.pdf
47 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/504187/Operational_Case_for_Bulk_Powers.pdf
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