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Five people falsely accused of crimes after errors in internet data disclosure Six people falsely accused of crimes after errors in internet data disclosure
(about 9 hours later)
Five people have been wrongly detained and falsely accused of crimes in the past year as a result of mistakes made in the official disclosure of confidential data on their internet use to the police and security services. Six people have been wrongly detained and falsely accused of crimes in the past year as a result of mistakes made in the official disclosure of confidential data on their internet use to the police and security services.
The annual report from an official watchdog (pdf) – the interception of communications commissioner – reveals that the number of official requests for the data tracking individual internet and phone use has soared by 15% in the past year to 570,135 requests. The annual report from an official watchdog (pdf) – the interception of communications commissioner – reveals that official requests for data-tracking of individuals' internet and phone use has soared by 15% in the past year to 570,135 requests.
The vast majority were made by the security services and the police but also included 160 local authorities making 2,605 requests in order to identify fly tippers, counterfeit goods traders and those engaged in consumer rip-offs. The vast majority were made by the security services and the police, but 160 local authorities made 2,605 requests to identify fly tippers, counterfeit goods traders and those engaged in consumer ripoffs.
Sir Paul Kennedy, the retiring commissioner, attributes the 70,000 increase in requests to the number of snooping operations undertaken around the London 2012 Olympics. Sir Paul Kennedy, the retiring commissioner for official snooping, attributes the 70,000 increase to security operations for the London 2012 Olympics. He says in his annual report that huge intelligence and investigative benefits can be reaped from lawful interception and communications data, but warns that such operations have the potential to be highly intrusive.
He says in his annual report that huge intelligence and investigative benefits can be reaped from lawful interception and communications data, but he also warns that such operations have the potential to be highly intrusive. He discloses that nearly 979 errors were made during such interception operations during 2012, often involving monitoring data from the wrong telephone numbers, email addresses or over the wrong time period. In about 20% of cases, the internet and phone companies handed over the wrong internet and phone records to the authorities.
Kennedy discloses that nearly a thousand errors – 979 – were made during such interception operations during 2012, often involving monitoring data from the wrong telephone numbers, email addresses or over the wrong time period. In about 20% of cases the internet and phone companies handed over the wrong internet and phone records to the authorities. "In the vast majority of these cases, the mistake was realised, the public authority (and the communications service provider, if applicable) reported the error to my team, and the data that was acquired wrongly was destroyed as it had no relevance to the investigation," said Kennedy in his report, published on Thursday. "Regretfully in six separate cases this year, the mistake was not realised and action was taken by the police forces/law enforcement agencies on the data received. All of these cases were requests for internet data. Regrettably, five of these errors had very significant consequences for six members of the public who were wrongly detained/accused of crimes as a result of the errors.
"In the vast majority of these cases the mistake was realised, the public authority (and the communications service provider if applicable) reported the error to my team and the data that was acquired wrongly was destroyed as it had no relevance to the investigation," said Kennedy in his report published on Thursday. "The remaining one error also caused an intrusion into the privacy of an individual, as an address was mistakenly visited by police looking for a child who had threatened to commit self harm," the commissioner reports.
"Regretfully in six separate cases this year, the mistake was not realised and action was taken by the police forces/law enforcement agencies on the data received," reports Kennedy.
"All of these cases were requests for internet data. Regrettably, five of these errors had very significant consequences for six members of the public who were wrongly detained/accused of crimes as a result of the errors. The remaining one error also caused an intrusion into the privacy of an individual, as an address was mistakenly visited by police looking for a child who had threatened to commit self harm," the commissioner reports.
He also says he was notified of a system fault at one internet company last year that may have led to incorrect data being disclosed to the police and security services.He also says he was notified of a system fault at one internet company last year that may have led to incorrect data being disclosed to the police and security services.
Thousands of disclosure requests were checked manually and it was found that errors had been made in 39 cases. In nearly all cases the mistakes were discovered before the information was acted on. In one case where no data had been originally provided, the manual check returned a positive identification on the owner of an internet address and led to his arrest for the possession of indecent images of children.Thousands of disclosure requests were checked manually and it was found that errors had been made in 39 cases. In nearly all cases the mistakes were discovered before the information was acted on. In one case where no data had been originally provided, the manual check returned a positive identification on the owner of an internet address and led to his arrest for the possession of indecent images of children.
Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, expressed alarm at the growing scale of disclosure of personal communications data: "Cardinal Richelieu promised to be able to hang most honest men with just 'six lines' written by their hand," she said. "Imagine how easy it is with thousands of text messages, emails and website visits to make each and every one of us look like a criminal. So much for the innocent having nothing to hide and so-called 'communications data' not being an intrusion on our privacy."Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, expressed alarm at the growing scale of disclosure of personal communications data: "Cardinal Richelieu promised to be able to hang most honest men with just 'six lines' written by their hand," she said. "Imagine how easy it is with thousands of text messages, emails and website visits to make each and every one of us look like a criminal. So much for the innocent having nothing to hide and so-called 'communications data' not being an intrusion on our privacy."