As if having all that public data squirrelled away by the NSA wasn’t bad enough, a new report by Liberty UK reveals that Britain’s intelligence services can take any of it, whenever it wants, without a warrant.
In fact, the investigation reveals that the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters can take data from the US and other countries, add it to large searchable databases and keep it there for up to two years. GCHQ was forced to reveal the agreement during legal proceedings.
The report also mentions that the UK can acquire data “through US corporate partnerships without having to obtain a warrant from the Secretary of State.” The data taken by the UK includes both communications content and metadata.
UK Government claims that the “mass surveillance practices and extensive exchange of surveillance material with the NSA are in accordance with the law” and are “compliant with the Human Rights Act.” Somehow, we can’t help but think that’s not quite good enough. [Liberty]