ICC reports rise in communications data probing

Paul Kennedy disclosed in his annual report that in 2009 public authorities made 525,130 data requests to internet service providers to view people's phone and email records, compared to 504,073 requests in 2008. It is probable that the rise is down to the growing number of online crimes that police are having to investigate, says Kennedy in the document, published on 27 July 2010. "I cannot give a precise reason for this but there is evidence that more and more police forces have to investigate internet related crime, including paedophile rings and the requirements to obtain communications data in these types of cases can be quite extensive," he says. The commissioner also reveals that ICC inspectors found the Financial Services Authority to be the "largest user" of communications data requests, totalling 2,259. A total of 661 errors in which organisations obtained the wrong communications data, were reported to the ICC by public authorities in 2009. Kennedy says, however, that although the number seems large "it is very small when it is compared to the numbers of requests for data which are made nationally". "I am not convinced that any useful purpose would be served by providing a more detailed report of these errors. I should add that neither I nor any of my inspectors have uncovered any wilful or reckless conduct which has been the cause of these errors," he says. Kennedy discloses that a "considerable proportion" of the errors were due to the incorrect transposition of telephone numbers. In response to Kennedy's report, Alex Deane, director of Big Brother Watch called the findings "shocking". "The level of covert surveillance in this country is shocking, these operations are now part of our nation's everyday life. Worst of all, the commissioner has revealed that dozens of operations conducted in the past year were in fact unauthorised," he said. "These unauthorised operations were not only intrusive, but also often extensive, the longest lasted for 24 days. That's over three weeks of illegal surveillance by the state, without any apparent repercussions for those who did it." The ICC says the outcomes of the inspections carried out on police forces across England and Wales "were good" and that it is confident that communications data is being obtained lawfully. But he did point out that "one or two" police forces had been slow in responding to findings from previous inspection reports. "As a consequence (of inspections) the overwhelming number of police forces and law enforcement agencies are sustaining a good level of compliance with the Act and Code of Practice," Kennedy adds.