Report of the Independent Surveillance Review
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The effectiveness of current statutory oversight arrangements.
David Anderson’s report was published in June 2015.
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The ISR Panel have also taken into consideration a number of other reports, including
the report by the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Draft Communications Data
Bill and the annual reports of the Intelligence Services Commissioner, Interception of
Communications Commissioner and Surveillance Commissioners, all of whom are senior
retired judges.
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Finally, the ISR Panel have considered the outputs of non-governmental initiatives
such as Don’t Spy on Us, a coalition of privacy and civil-liberties groups including Big
Brother Watch, the Open Rights Group and Privacy International; Reform Government
Surveillance, an alliance of some of the world’s most influential Internet companies
including Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Apple; and the Global Commission on Internet
Governance, chaired by the Swedish politician and diplomat Carl Bildt, and featuring two
of the ISR Panel as members. The Global Commission was established to articulate and
advance a strategic vision for the future of Internet governance and has put forward its
own proposals for a new social compact.
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The ISR Panel’s wide-ranging evidence sessions have helped to make clear the complex
ecosystem that citizens and consumers understand as ‘the Internet’, but which is made
up of multiple networks and communications technologies that rest on a sophisticated
infrastructure spanning the globe.
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This report takes into account certain issues that the ISR Panel thought were important
to consider, but which were beyond the remit of other reviews and inquiries. These
included the distinct challenges faced by law-enforcement agencies (including police
forces, the NCA, HM Revenue and Customs, among others) in comparison to the SIAs, as
well as the role of the private sector in data collection and retention.
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Chapter I describes the rapid pace of change in communications technology, the evolution
of the Internet infrastructure that supports it, and the opportunities and challenges that
this presents for society. It also outlines the volume and value of data being created by
citizens, companies and government in the modern digital society.
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Chapter II looks at the concepts and qualified rights of privacy and security, as well as
known public attitudes to data collection, surveillance and privacy.
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Chapter III is concerned with the challenges of the digital age, the Snowden disclosures
and what they revealed about the operation of the UK’s security and intelligence
apparatus. It explores the scope of work the police and SIAs are required to undertake,
and which provides the legal justification for their intrusion into citizens’ lives.