Controls on surveillance powers by councils must be tighter say Liberal Democrats
More than 500,000 requests to access phone and e-mail records were made in 2008, according to a report by the Interception of Communications Commissioner. The Lib Dems say only a magistrate should be able to approve a request for surveillance under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa). An average of about 1,500 surveillance requests were made every day in Britain last year, according to figures which have emerged from an annual report by commissioner Sir Paul Kennedy. That is the annual equivalent to one in every 78 adults being targeted. There were 1,500 approved applications from local councils.
10 Aug 2009
