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IPCO Annual Report 2018
16. Technology Advisory Panel
Overview
16.1
The Technology Advisory Panel (TAP) is required under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016
(IPA) to submit an Annual Report to the Investigatory Powers Commissioner (IPC). The IPC
has agreed that he will make that report publicly available through his Annual Report.
The full text of the 2018 report is as follows:
The Technology Advisory Panel (TAP) was set up under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016
(“the Act”) (paras 246-247). Establishing and maintaining the TAP is a responsibility of
the Commissioner but the TAP may also give advice to relevant Ministers. The TAP has a
dual function under the Act: both to advise about the impact of changing technology, and
also to advise about the availability and developments of techniques to use investigatory
powers while minimising interference with privacy. In the definition of the panel’s remit,
“technology” is taken to be interpreted broadly, to include all relevant areas of science and
mathematics. The remit of the Panel does not extend to consideration of matters of law,
partisan politics or moral philosophy. The TAP is not a decision-making body and its advice
cannot constrain any decision of the Commissioner or of any part of the Government.
The Chair of the TAP, Sir Bernard Silverman FRS, formerly Chief Scientific Adviser to the
Home Office and Emeritus Professor of Statistics at Oxford University, was appointed
towards the end of 2017. During 2018 the Commissioner appointed the following three
additional members: Professor Muffy Calder, Vice-Principal and Head of the College of
Science and Engineering at Glasgow University, and previously the Chief Scientific Adviser
for Scotland; Professor Derek McAuley, Professor of Digital Economy in the School of
Computer Science at the University of Nottingham, and John Davies, who has an extensive
technical background in both government and private industry roles. A Secretary to the TAP
was also appointed. This is the first Annual Report.
Activities undertaken by the TAP and its members during 2018 include:
• A number of informal meetings during the year, leading to the first formal meeting
in December 2018; the panel could not meet formally earlier, because of the need to
complete processes required for the appointment of members.
• The co-hosting (with the Intellectual Forum based at Jesus College, Horizon Digital
Economy Research and the EPSRC IoT Research Hub, PETRAS) of a day conference in
November 2018 on the Metrics of Privacy. Delegates came from a mixture of backgrounds
and experiences including statistics, computer science, privacy and open rights groups and
other bodies with an interest in the topic. A formal report of the day is being prepared
for publication.
• A study and report on a specific sensitive topic in order to give technical guidance to the
members of the Inspectorate.