Crucial parts of the Government’s “snooper’s charter” plans are vaguely worded, rushed and do too little to protect law-abiding citizens from being spied upon, a damning report by MPs and peers has warned.
They raised a series of objections to the Draft Investigatory Powers Bill, which gives the police and security services the power to access records of every Briton’s web-browsing habits and forces communications companies to hold data about internet use for up to 12 months.
The influential Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) protested the legislation “suffered from a lack of sufficient time and preparation” and was so unclear that Home Office officials seemed confused about its aims.
Theresa May, the Home Secretary, is facing demands to respond to the criticism by rewriting key sections of the controversial legislation, which was drawn up following Edward Snowden’s disclosures about the extent of mass surveillance of the public.
The comments were a blow to ministers’ hopes of securing a smooth passage for the Bill, which they hope will become law by the end of the year.
The ISC, which took evidence in private from Ms May and the heads of the GCHQ, MI5 and MI6, expressed surprise that protection of privacy “does not feature more prominently” given the outcry that followed Mr Snowden’s revelations.
It said it was worried by the “inconsistent and largely incomprehensible” approach to “data collection” – the monitoring of telephone calls and internet use, but not their contents.
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