BIG BROTHER WATCH AND OTHERS v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT
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E. a description of the type of each item of communications data included in the
notice or authorisation;
F. whether the item of communications data relates to a victim, a witness, a
complainant, or a suspect, next of kin, vulnerable person or other person relevant to
the investigation or operation;
G. the age of the item of communications data. Where the data includes more than
one day, the recorded age of data should be the oldest date of the data sought;
H. where an item of data is service use information or traffic data retained by the
CSP, an indication of the total number of days of data being sought by means of
notice or authorisation; and
I. the CSP from whom the data is being acquired.
6.7. These records must be sent in written or electronic form to the Commissioner,
as determined by him. Guidance on record keeping will be issued by IOCCO.
Guidance may also be sought by relevant public authorities, CSPs or persons
contracted by them to develop or maintain their information technology systems.
6.8. The Interception of Communications Commissioner will not seek to publish
statistical information where it appears to him that doing so would be contrary to the
public interest, or would be prejudicial to national security.
Records to be kept by a Communications Service Provider
6.9. To assist the Commissioner to carry out his statutory function in relation to
Chapter II, CSPs should maintain a record of the disclosures it has made or been
required to make. This record should be available to the Commissioner and his
inspectors to enable comparative scrutiny of the records kept by public authorities.
Guidance on the maintenance of records by CSPs may be issued by or sought from
IOCCO.
6.10. The records to be kept by a CSP, in respect of each notice or authorisation,
should include:
A. the name of the public authority;
B. the URN of the notice or authorisation;
C. the date the notice was served upon the CSP or the authorisation disclosed to the
CSP;
D. a description of any communications data required where no disclosure took
place or could have taken place;
E. the date when the communications data was made available to the public
authority or, where secure systems are provided by the CSP, the date when the
acquisition and disclosure of communications data was undertaken; and
F. sufficient records to establish the origin and exact communications data that has
been disclosed in the event of later challenge in court.
Errors
6.11. Proper application of RIPA and thorough procedures for operating its
provisions, including the careful preparation and checking of applications, notices and
authorisations, should reduce the scope for making errors whether by public
authorities or by CSPs.
6.12. An error can only occur after a designated person: