EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
6.
7.
Part I of the report (BACKGROUND) establishes the context for the Review,
explores the central concept of privacy and considers both current and future threats
to the UK and the challenges of changing technology.
a.
Chapter 1 (INTRODUCTION) sets out the scope, aims and methodology of the
Review.
b.
Chapter 2 (PRIVACY) looks at the importance of privacy for individual, social
and political life. It charts attitudes to privacy and surveillance as they have
evolved over time and as they have recently been captured in court judgments
and in survey evidence from the UK and elsewhere.
c.
Chapter 3 (THREAT) looks at the importance of security for individual, social
and political life. It assesses the threat to the UK in terms of both national
security and crime, and puts it into a long-term perspective.
d.
Chapter 4 (TECHNOLOGY) explains the basic technology that underlies the
debate, from changing methods of communication and new capabilities to
encryption, anti-surveillance tools and the dark net.
Part II of the Report (CURRENT POSITION) explains the international legal
backdrop, the current powers and the way in which they are used.
a.
Chapter 5 (LEGAL CONSTRAINTS) sets out the legal framework which
governs action in this field. In the absence of a written constitution, the chief
limitations on freedom to legislate are those imposed by the ECHR and (within
its field of application) EU law.
b.
Chapter 6 (POWERS AND SAFEGUARDS) summarises the existing UK laws
under which public authorities may collect and analyse people’s
communications, or records of their communications. It introduces the key
concepts and summarises the various powers both under RIPA and outside it,
together with the principal oversight mechanisms.
c.
Chapter 7 (PRACTICE) explains how those powers are applied in practice by
intelligence, police, law enforcement and others, touching also on data-sharing,
bulk personal datasets and the recently-avowed capability for computer
network exploitation.
d.
Chapter 8 (COMPARISONS) provides three sets of benchmarks which may
assist in working out how UK law on Investigatory Powers should look. These
are:
other forms of surveillance (directed and intrusive surveillance,
property interference, covert human intelligence sources etc.),
the laws of other countries, particularly in Europe and the Englishspeaking world, and
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