GCHQ, MI5 & MI6 sharing citizens’ data in violation of legal safeguards
The GCHQ and its allied intelligence agencies MI5 and MI6 could be harvesting and sharing more sensitive information belonging to citizens than previously believed or officially disclosed.
Privacy International has moved the IPT claiming that GCHQ, MI5, and MI6 are accessing citizens' data without obtaining legal sanction.
Earlier this year, a survey conducted by Unisys revealed that almost half of all U.K. citizens were concerned that domestic intelligence services 'can, and will, listen to or watch them via their smart televisions and other smart devices'.
The survey also revealed that security-related concerns of U.K. citizens registered a 40 percent increase compared to 2014 levels. Concerns over the safety of personal data rose by as much as 50 percent.
It now appears that their concerns were legitimate. The investigatory powers tribunal (IPT) is now hearing arguments on how domestic intelligence agencies like the MI5 and MI6 have been processing bulk data belonging to citizens and sharing it with others without following legal safeguards.
Representing Privacy International, Ben Jaffey QC told the IPT that the process of overseeing data collection and processing by intelligence agencies by a team of independent commissioners has been a 'blatant failure'. He added that legal protections are avoided and intelligence agencies regularly circumvent legal regimes while analysing data belonging to citizens.
Privacy International alleges that bulk personal datasets collected and monitored by MI5 and MI6 contain highly sensitive concent about citizens. These include their activities on social media sites, online dating sites and leave almost nothing to the agencies' imagination.
"Such datasets are very intrusive. They contain information that goes right to the core of an individual’s private life," Jaffey contended.
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