BIG BROTHER WATCH AND OTHERS v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT
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online tracking of communications (including postal items and parcels).
...
Service Use Information
2.28. Data relating to the use made by any person of a postal or telecommunications
service, or any part of it, is widely known as ‘service use information’ and falls within
section 21(4)(b) of RIPA.
2.29. Service use information is, or can be, routinely made available by a CSP to
the person who uses or subscribes to the service to show the use of a service or
services and to account for service charges over a given period of time. Examples of
data within the definition at section 21(4)(b) include:
itemised telephone call records (numbers called);
itemised records of connections to internet services;
itemised timing and duration of service usage (calls and/or connections);
information about amounts of data downloaded and/or uploaded;
information about the use made of services which the user is allocated or
has subscribed to (or may have subscribed to) including conference calling,
call messaging, call waiting and call barring telecommunications services;
information about the use of forwarding/redirection services;
information about selection of preferential numbers or discount calls; and
records of postal items, such as records of registered post, recorded or
special delivery postal items, records of parcel consignment, delivery and
collection.
Subscriber Information
2.30. The third type of communications data, widely known as ‘subscriber
information’, is set out in section 21(4)(c) of RIPA. This relates to information held or
obtained by a CSP about persons to whom the CSP provides or has provided a
communications service. Those persons will include people who are subscribers to a
communications service without necessarily using that service and persons who use a
communications service without necessarily subscribing to it.
2.31. Examples of data within the definition at section 21(4)(c) include:
‘subscriber checks’ (also known as ‘reverse look ups’) such as “who is the
subscriber of phone number 01632 960 224?”, “who is the account holder
of e‑mail account example@example.co.uk?” or “who is entitled to post to
web space www.example.co.uk?”;
information about the subscriber to a PO Box number or a Postage Paid
Impression used on bulk mailings;
information about the provision to a subscriber or accountholder of
forwarding/redirection services, including delivery and forwarding
addresses;
subscribers’ or account holders’ account information, including names and
addresses for installation, and billing including payment method(s), details
of payments;