BIG BROTHER WATCH AND OTHERS v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT
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in relation a person who has died or is unable to identify himself, for the
purpose of obtaining information about the next of kin or other connected
persons of such a person or about the reason for their death or condition;
and
for the purpose of exercising functions relating to the regulation of
financial services and markets or to financial stability.
2.3. The purposes for which some public authorities may seek to acquire
communications data are restricted by order. The designated person may only
consider necessity on grounds open to their public authority and only in relation to
matters that are the statutory or administrative function of their respective public
authority. The purposes noted above should only be used by a public authority in
relation to the specific (and often specialist) offences or conduct that it has been given
the statutory function to investigate.
2.4. There is a further restriction upon the acquisition of communications data for
the following purposes:
in the interests of public safety;
for the purpose of protecting public health; and
for the purpose of assessing or collecting any tax, duty, levy or other
imposition, contribution or charge payable to a government department.
Only communications data within the meaning of section 21(4)(c) of RIPA [being
subscriber information] may be acquired for these purposes and only by those public
authorities permitted by order to acquire communications data for one or more of
those purposes.
2.5. When a public authority wishes to acquire communications data, the designated
person must believe that the acquisition, in the form of an authorisation or notice, is
necessary. He or she must also believe that conduct to be proportionate to what is
sought to be achieved by obtaining the specified communications data – that the
conduct is no more than is required in the circumstances. This involves balancing the
extent of the interference with an individual’s rights and freedoms against a specific
benefit to the investigation or operation being undertaken by a relevant public
authority in the public interest.
2.6. As well as consideration of the rights of the individual under investigation,
consideration must also be given to any actual or potential infringement of the privacy
and other rights of individuals who are not the subject of the investigation or
operation. An application for the acquisition of communications data should draw
attention to any circumstances which give rise to significant collateral intrusion.
2.7. Particular consideration must also be given, when pertinent, to the right to
freedom of expression.
2.8. Taking all these considerations into account in a particular case, an interference
with the rights of an individual may still not be justified because the adverse impact
on the rights of another individual or group of individuals is too severe.
2.9. Any conduct where the interference is excessive in relation to the aims of the
investigation or operation, or is in any way arbitrary, will not be proportionate.
2.10. Before public authorities can request communications data, authorisation must
be given by the designated person in the relevant authority. A designated person is
someone holding a prescribed office, rank or position within a relevant public