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| Queen's speech revives 'snooper's charter' legislation | Queen's speech revives 'snooper's charter' legislation |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The government appears to have left open the door to the resurrection of the controversial "snooper's charter" bill to track everyone's email, internet and mobile text use. | The government appears to have left open the door to the resurrection of the controversial "snooper's charter" bill to track everyone's email, internet and mobile text use. |
| Whitehall sources confirmed that the possibility of legislation remains under discussion despite a declaration by Nick Clegg that the communications data legislation "isn't going to happen while Lib Dems are in government". | Whitehall sources confirmed that the possibility of legislation remains under discussion despite a declaration by Nick Clegg that the communications data legislation "isn't going to happen while Lib Dems are in government". |
| A Downing Street background briefing note on investigating crime in cyberspace published alongside the Queen's speech says: "We are continuing to look at this issue closely and the government's approach will be proportionate, with robust safeguards in place." | A Downing Street background briefing note on investigating crime in cyberspace published alongside the Queen's speech says: "We are continuing to look at this issue closely and the government's approach will be proportionate, with robust safeguards in place." |
| The text of the Queen's speech gives the go-ahead to legislation, if needed, to deal with the limited technical problem of there being many more devices including phones and tablets in use than the number of internet protocol (IP) addresses that allow the police to identify who sent an email or made a Skype call at a given time. | |
| The carefully crafted sentence agreed by the prime minister, David Cameron, and Clegg, says: "In relation to the problem of matching internet protocol addresses, my government will bring forward proposals to enable the protection of the public and the investigation of crime in cyberspace." | The carefully crafted sentence agreed by the prime minister, David Cameron, and Clegg, says: "In relation to the problem of matching internet protocol addresses, my government will bring forward proposals to enable the protection of the public and the investigation of crime in cyberspace." |
| Whitehall sources said the government was in talks with internet and phone companies over whom to deal with concerning this issue but said "it may involve legislation". | |
| But it appears that the home secretary, Theresa May, still retains hopes of resurrecting the much wider bill to track everybody's email, text and internet use. | But it appears that the home secretary, Theresa May, still retains hopes of resurrecting the much wider bill to track everybody's email, text and internet use. |
| "This is not about indiscriminately accessing internet data of innocent members of the public, it is about ensuring that police and other law enforcement agencies have the powers they need to investigate the activities of criminals that take place online as well as offline," says the Downing Street briefing note. | |
| Emma Carr, the deputy director of the privacy and civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: "The Queen's speech is clear that any work should pursue the narrow problem of IP matching, nothing more, and does not mandate the government to bring forward a bill. | |
| "It is beyond comprehension for the Home Office to think that this gives them licence to carry on regardless with a much broader bill that has been demonstrated as unworkable and dangerous by experts, business groups and the wider public. It is not surprising that some officials may want to keep trying, having already failed three times under two different governments, to introduce massively disproportionate and intrusive powers, but that is quite clearly not what Her Majesty has put forward today," said Carr. | "It is beyond comprehension for the Home Office to think that this gives them licence to carry on regardless with a much broader bill that has been demonstrated as unworkable and dangerous by experts, business groups and the wider public. It is not surprising that some officials may want to keep trying, having already failed three times under two different governments, to introduce massively disproportionate and intrusive powers, but that is quite clearly not what Her Majesty has put forward today," said Carr. |
| The Home Office anti-social behaviour, crime and policing bill to be published on Thursday will confirm the government's plans to introduce a "community trigger" to tackle persistent anti-social behaviour. The original plan to set the trigger at a maximum of five complaints before the police are required to respond to a problem has been replaced by a maximum of three complaints. The bill will also give victims a say in the sanction handed out to an offender in low-level offences through a new "community remedy". | |
| The Home Office confirmed the bill would make forced marriages a criminal offence for the first time. It will also extend a ban on owning a dog that is out of control in a public place to private places, including homes. | |
| Buried in the bill is also a move to ensure that those who suffer miscarriages of justice will only receive compensation if they pass a test of "clear innocence". |