investigatorypowersbill

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    ISPs warn UK snooping law will cost time and lots of money

    by 
    Jamie Rigg
    Jamie Rigg
    12.10.2015

    The Investigatory Powers Bill, aka the new Snoopers' Charter, aims to clarify and extend the UK government's surveillance capabilities. Of the proposed changes to existing legislation, one of the biggest is the requirement that all British ISPs store the last 12 months of browsing data so that it may be accessible to government agencies. The draft bill still needs the approval of the House of Commons and House of Lords to become law, so the finer details aren't yet set in stone, but the UK's major internet providers are already advising it'll be a big ask. Speaking to the bill's joint committee yesterday, execs from BT, Sky and Virgin Media warned the capture and storage of Internet Connection Records (ICRs) would be both costly, and could take several years to implement.

  • Tim Cook warns UK government against weakening encryption

    by 
    Nick Summers
    Nick Summers
    11.10.2015

    Following the UK's Investigatory Powers Bill, which was released last week with new and extended surveillance powers for the government, Apple CEO Tim Cook has defended strong encryption. Speaking to the Telegraph, Cook reiterated that Apple believes "very strongly in end-to-end encryption and no back doors." He pointed to recent data breaches (hello, TalkTalk hack) and emphasised that they can endanger both public privacy and national security. "To protect people who use any products, you have to encrypt."

  • UK Investigatory Powers Bill: what you need to know

    by 
    Nick Summers
    Nick Summers
    11.04.2015

    The UK government has put forward a bill today that forces internet service providers (ISPs) to keep a record of the websites their customers have visited for up to 12 months. These "internet connection records" (ICRs) could then be requested by law enforcement, security and intelligence agencies to identify which services a person or device has been accessing. It would not reveal every webpage they've browsed -- the current understanding, as set out in David Anderson's recent review of surveillance laws, is that it would cover google.com or bbc.co.uk, but nothing beyond the first forward slash.