Setting precedents for privacy: the UK legal challenges bringing surveillance into the open
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Garfield Benjamin, Solent University
MI5 has been pulled up in court over storing mass data obtained by surveillance and hacking in a systematic invasion of privacy described as “undoubtedly unlawful” by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner. The disclosures about Britain’s security agency came to light in mid June during an ongoing case in the high court brought by the campaign group Liberty, which is challenging the architecture of the UK’s surveillance regime.
The revelations come in the wake of other recent high-profile cases regarding privacy and surveillance that campaigners hope could set precedents for the legal and technical powers of government and law enforcement.
In a major victory in May, the charity Privacy International won a five-year battle against the secrecy of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, which oversees surveillance activities by the security services and other agencies. The tribunal was previously able to make decisions behind closed doors. Th...
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