Campaign group calls for tighter control over surveillance powers

Figures compiled by civil liberties and privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch show that between 2008 and 2011 powers available under Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) were used a total of 21 times by Kirklees Council, 17 times by the Leeds City Council and seven times by Wakefield Council.

Leeds City Council used them 14 times in 2008-09, with seven related to cases of illegal waste dumping, four anti-social behaviour, one graffiti, one illegal food processing and one other unstated.

In 2009-10 and 2010-11 the powers were used a total of three times, with the nature of the offences under investigation not given.

The Big Brother Watch report details how over the three years local authorities across the UK used the powers more than 9,600 times, before the Government changed the law requiring them to have seek a magistrate’s approval.

But while councils now need a magistrate’s approval, Big Brother Watch is concerned other public authorities do not require such permission.

The report proposes three measures that should be introduced including requiring public authorities to publish data on how
often and why they use the
powers, ensuring judicial approval of all surveillance operations and for a root-and-branch review of RIPA.

In response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act, seven public authorities refused to disclose why or how often they have used the powers.

Nick Pickles, director of Big Brother Watch, said: “It is unacceptable for public authorities to keep secret details of why they are spying on the public and to use these powers without ever seeking a court’s approval.”

In the report’s foreword, Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles says: We need robust accountability of all state bodies, not just local authorities, to ensure these state powers are not used without proper justification, and I welcome Big Brother Watch’s continuing scrutiny and challenge.”