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| Surveillance bill includes internet records storage | Surveillance bill includes internet records storage |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The internet activity of everyone in Britain will have to be stored for a year by service providers, under new surveillance law plans. | The internet activity of everyone in Britain will have to be stored for a year by service providers, under new surveillance law plans. |
| Police and intelligence officers will be able to see the names of sites people have visited without a warrant, Home Secretary Theresa May said. | Police and intelligence officers will be able to see the names of sites people have visited without a warrant, Home Secretary Theresa May said. |
| But there would be new safeguards over MI5, MI6 and the police spying on the full content of people's web use. | But there would be new safeguards over MI5, MI6 and the police spying on the full content of people's web use. |
| Mrs May told MPs the proposed powers were needed to fight crime and terror. | Mrs May told MPs the proposed powers were needed to fight crime and terror. |
| The wide-ranging draft Investigatory Powers Bill also contains proposals covering how the state can hack devices and run operations to sweep up large amounts of data as it flows through the internet, enshrining in law the previously covert activities of GCHQ, as uncovered by whistleblower Edward Snowden. | The wide-ranging draft Investigatory Powers Bill also contains proposals covering how the state can hack devices and run operations to sweep up large amounts of data as it flows through the internet, enshrining in law the previously covert activities of GCHQ, as uncovered by whistleblower Edward Snowden. |
| The draft bill's measures include: | The draft bill's measures include: |
| Mrs May told MPs the draft bill was a "significant departure" from previous plans, dubbed the "snooper's charter" by critics, which were blocked by the Lib Dems, and will "provide some of the strongest protections and safeguards anywhere in the democratic world and an approach that sets new standards for openness, transparency and oversight". | Mrs May told MPs the draft bill was a "significant departure" from previous plans, dubbed the "snooper's charter" by critics, which were blocked by the Lib Dems, and will "provide some of the strongest protections and safeguards anywhere in the democratic world and an approach that sets new standards for openness, transparency and oversight". |
| 'Better balance' | 'Better balance' |
| But Shami Chakrabarti, director of civil rights campaign Liberty, said: "After all the talk of climbdowns and safeguards, this long-awaited Bill constitutes a breath-taking attack on the internet security of every man, woman and child in our country. | But Shami Chakrabarti, director of civil rights campaign Liberty, said: "After all the talk of climbdowns and safeguards, this long-awaited Bill constitutes a breath-taking attack on the internet security of every man, woman and child in our country. |
| "We must now look to Parliament to step in where ministers have failed and strike a better balance between privacy and surveillance." | "We must now look to Parliament to step in where ministers have failed and strike a better balance between privacy and surveillance." |
| And US data whistleblower Edward Snowden warned the communications data covered by the proposed legislation was "the activity log of your life". | |
| In a message on Twitter he said: "'It's only communications data' = 'It's only a comprehensive record of your private activities'." | |
| The proposed legislation, which will have to pass votes in both houses of Parliament, would order communications companies, such as broadband firms, to hold basic details of the services that someone has accessed online - something that has been repeatedly proposed but never enacted. | The proposed legislation, which will have to pass votes in both houses of Parliament, would order communications companies, such as broadband firms, to hold basic details of the services that someone has accessed online - something that has been repeatedly proposed but never enacted. |
| This duty would include forcing firms to hold a schedule of which websites someone visits and the apps they connect to through computers, smartphones, tablets and other devices. | This duty would include forcing firms to hold a schedule of which websites someone visits and the apps they connect to through computers, smartphones, tablets and other devices. |
| Police and other agencies would be then able to access these records in pursuit of criminals - but also seek to retrieve data in a wider range of inquiries, such as missing people. | Police and other agencies would be then able to access these records in pursuit of criminals - but also seek to retrieve data in a wider range of inquiries, such as missing people. |
| Mrs May stressed that the authorities would not be able to access everyone's browsing history, just basic data, which was the "modern equivalent of an itemised phone bill". | |
| But investigating officers will not have to obtain a warrant, just get their request signed off by a senior officer, just as they do now - some 517,000 such requests were granted last year. | But investigating officers will not have to obtain a warrant, just get their request signed off by a senior officer, just as they do now - some 517,000 such requests were granted last year. |
| If officers want to mount more intrusive spying operations, including accessing the content of emails, hacking into computers and tapping phones, they will still need a warrant from the home secretary or another senior minister - 2,700 such warrants were signed last year. | If officers want to mount more intrusive spying operations, including accessing the content of emails, hacking into computers and tapping phones, they will still need a warrant from the home secretary or another senior minister - 2,700 such warrants were signed last year. |
| But the draft bill proposes giving a new panel of judges, known as the Investigatory Powers Commission, the ability to veto such requests. | |
| Background briefings on the plans | Background briefings on the plans |
| Read more: 'Spying' powers explained | Read more: 'Spying' powers explained |
| A new licence for spies and police? | A new licence for spies and police? |
| When police or security agencies apply to intercept someone's communications, their plans would have to be first signed off by the home secretary but then approved by one of these judges. | |
| In urgent situations, such as when someone's life is in danger or there is a unique opportunity to gather critical intelligence, the home secretary would have the power to approve an interception warrant without immediate judicial approval. | In urgent situations, such as when someone's life is in danger or there is a unique opportunity to gather critical intelligence, the home secretary would have the power to approve an interception warrant without immediate judicial approval. |
| The judges would also be able to refer serious errors to an outside tribunal which could then decide to tell the individual their data has been illegally collected. | The judges would also be able to refer serious errors to an outside tribunal which could then decide to tell the individual their data has been illegally collected. |
| The bill does not propose forcing overseas companies to comply with these orders. | The bill does not propose forcing overseas companies to comply with these orders. |
| The estimated cost to taxpayers of implementing the Bill is about £247m over the next 10 years, including storage of internet connection records and the new warrant approval regime. | |
| Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, David Cameron said the draft bill was "one of the most important this House will discuss", adding: "We must help the police and security and intelligence services to keep us safe." | Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, David Cameron said the draft bill was "one of the most important this House will discuss", adding: "We must help the police and security and intelligence services to keep us safe." |
| London Mayor Boris Johnson warned that the new powers must not be used as an "instrument of oppression", saying the proposed law was "defensible if and only if it's supervised by a judge". | London Mayor Boris Johnson warned that the new powers must not be used as an "instrument of oppression", saying the proposed law was "defensible if and only if it's supervised by a judge". |
| Labour's shadow home secretary Andy Burnham backed the draft bill, saying it was "neither a snooper's charter nor a plan for mass surveillance". | Labour's shadow home secretary Andy Burnham backed the draft bill, saying it was "neither a snooper's charter nor a plan for mass surveillance". |
| Former Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said it was a "much improved model" of the legislation he blocked during the coalition government but said the "devil would be in the detail". | Former Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said it was a "much improved model" of the legislation he blocked during the coalition government but said the "devil would be in the detail". |
| BBC Political Correspondent Carole Walker said Theresa May would be "hugely relieved to have got through this critical session in the House largely unscathed" but the draft bill "now faces detailed consideration in the Lords as well as the Commons". |