Britain's Spy Chief Says US Tech Firms Aid Terrorism

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: New GCHQ director Richard Hannigan accuses some Silicon Valley companies of becoming 'the command and control networks of choice' for terrorists

Technology giants such as Facebook and Twitter have become "the command and control networks of choice" for terrorists and criminals but are "in denial" about the scale of the problem, the new head of GCHQ has said.

Robert Hannigan said that Isil terrorists in Syria and Iraq have "embraced the web" and are using it to intimidate people and inspire "would-be jihadis" from all over the World to join them.

He urged the companies to work more closely with the security services, arguing that it is time for them to confront "some uncomfortable truths" and that privacy is not an "absolute right".

He suggested that unless US technology companies co-operate, new laws will be needed to ensure that intelligence agencies are able to track and pursue terrorists. » | Steven Swinford, Senior Political Correspondent | Monday, November 03, 2014

GCHQ Leaks Have Already Caused 'Real Damage' Warns Security Adviser

Oliver Robbins

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The mass GCHQ leaks have already caused “real damage” to UK security, put agent lives at risk and could even threaten the economy and international relations, the deputy national security advisor has warned.

Oliver Robbins said the Edward Snowden revelations, published by the Guardian newspaper, could lead “directly to widespread loss of life” and “threaten the internal stability of the UK”.

A senior MP also accused the newspaper and Snowden of being “naïve” if they thought they could identify what parts of the stolen files would damage national security if publicised.

On Tuesday, Andrew Parker, the new head of MI5, used his first speech to launch a scathing attack on the leaks warning they had “gifted” the terrorists the ability to attack “at will”.

He said revealing intelligence techniques had given fanatics the advantage that allowed them to evade detection.

David Cameron, the Prime Minister, backed the comments. » | Tom Whitehead, and Steven Swinford | Wednesday, October 09, 2013

GCHQ Faces Legal Challenge in European Court over Online Privacy

THE GUARDIAN: Campaigners accuse British spy agency of breaching privacy of millions in UK and Europe via online surveillance

The UK spy agency GCHQ is facing a legal challenge in the European courts over claims its mass online surveillance programmes have breached the privacy of tens of millions of people across the UK and Europe.

Three campaign groups – Big Brother Watch, the Open Rights Group and English PEN – together with the German internet activist Constanze Kurz have filed papers at the European court of human rights alleging that the collection of vast amounts of data, including the content of emails and social media messages, by UK spy agencies is illegal.

The move follows revelations by the US whistleblower Edward Snowden that GCHQ has the capacity to collect more than 21 petabytes of data a day – equivalent to sending all the information in all the books in the British Library 192 times every 24 hours.

Daniel Carey, solicitor at Deighton Pierce Glynn, which is taking the case, said: "We are asking the court to declare that unrestrained surveillance of much of Europe's internet communications by the UK government, and the outdated regulatory system that has permitted this, breach our rights to privacy." » | Matthew Taylor and Nick Hopkins | Thursday, October 03, 2013

Government Threats to Journos 'Signalling Rise of Fascism' - WikiLeaks

The Guardian's editor Alan Rusbridger said that UK authorities raided the paper's London office to destroy hard drives in a bid to stop further damaging publications. He also said that intelligence officials from the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) had told him that he had the option of handing over all the classified documents or seeing the newspaper's hard drives destroyed. For more RT talks to WikiLeaks spokesperson, Kristinn Hrafnsson.

Alan Rusbridger of The Guardian: I Would Rather Destroy the Copied Files Than Hand Them Back to the NSA and GCHQ

The Guardian's editor reveals why and how the newspaper destroyed computer hard drives containing copies of some of the secret files leaked by Edward Snowden. The decision was taken after a threat of legal action by the British government, that could have stopped the reporting on the extent of American and British state surveillance revealed by the document

Wire Transfer: NSA Paid $150 Mlnimum to GCHQ to Spy on UK Citizens

Snowden's leaks continue to span the Atlantic. The latest revelations published by the Guardian show not only was Britain's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) spying extensively on UK citizens - but it was receiving funds from Washington to do so. RT's Polly Boiko takes a closer look at the US role in it.

Global Surveillance: The Public Must Fight for Its Right to Privacy
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The British-American surveillance program Tempora marks a historic turning point. Unnoticed by the public, intelligence agencies have pursued total surveillance. Governments have deliberately concealed from the public the extent to which we are being watched.

The term, "information superhighway" has always been insufficient to describe the Internet. In reality, the Web is a global communication space containing the private information of a large part of the population of every developed country. If someone were able to train an all-seeing eye onto the Internet, the blackmail potential would be almost limitless.

It is precisely this all-seeing eye that the British intelligence agency Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and the American National Security Agency (NSA) have developed under the name Tempora. An appropriate real-world metaphor for the program might be something like this: In every room of every house and every apartment, cameras and microphones are installed, every letter is opened and copied, every telephone tapped. Everything that happens is recorded and can be accessed as needed. » | A Commentary by Christian Stöcker | Monday, June 24, 2013

David Cameron: Lib Dems Were Fully Aware of 'Snooping' Plans

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: David Cameron has hit back against Liberal Democrat critics of the new internet “snooping” laws, claiming Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne approved the controversial plans.

In a put-down to his Coalition partners, the Prime Minister said it was important to “remember” that some of the most senior Liberal Democrats in Government waived [sic] through the proposals.

Ministers insist the new laws will simply widen the current scope of powers to the internet, as police and intelligence agencies are already allowed to monitor phones, letters and emails. They dispute the idea that monitoring voice calls and other communications over the internet amounts to snooping.

But prominent Liberal Democrats have expressed outrage that the changes will allow the police to have greater power to track online communications, such as Facebook and Skype.

Last week, Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, intervened to say he would block any intrusive new powers following a series of reports on the forthcoming legislation.

Tim Farron, the president of the Liberal Democrats, has even said the party is prepared to “kill” the plans, if the laws pose a “threat to a free and liberal society”. » | Rowena Mason, Political Correspondent | Tuesday, April 10, 2012

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Nick Clegg denies endorsing Coalition's 'snooping' plans: The Coalition has been shaken by a row as Nick Clegg denies claims by David Cameron that he had signed up to controversial internet surveillance plans. » | Rowena Mason, Political Correspondent | Tuesday, April 10, 2012

The UK 'Snooping' Plan: Security vs. Privacy
Is the UK's new online surveillance plan an essential security tool or an unnecessary breach of personal freedoms?

Related »

Government Retreats on Digital 'Big Brother' Plan
THE INDEPENDENT: Home Secretary accused of mishandling surveillance proposals

Plans to allow the authorities to monitor the online activity of every person in Britain were pushed back last night after being condemned by MPs of all parties.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, announced that the contentious measures would be published only in draft form and would be subject to widespread consultation – concessions that could delay the proposals for at least a year. In a letter to Mr Clegg published in The Independent today, 17 Liberal Democrat MPs welcomed his intervention but warned him their support could not be taken for granted on the issue.

A storm erupted this week after it emerged that legislation to allow the police, intelligence services, councils and other public bodies to obtain details of messages sent via Skype and social networks would be included in the Queen's Speech.

The disclosure provoked anger among Tory and Liberal Democrat MPs alike, who warned that the proposals contradicted the parties' opposition to a similar Labour scheme – and were not included in the Coalition Agreement. There have also been recriminations within the Coalition as Liberal Democrats – understood to have been backed by some Tory ministers – accused Theresa May, the Home Secretary, of mishandling the issue. » | Nigel Morris | Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Related material here and here

Web Monitoring Will Lead to Discrimination and Blackmail
THE GUARDIAN: It seems whoever is in government, grandiose ambitions of the security state remain – and the potential for harm is great

When the Liberals and Conservatives delivered the first coalition government since the war, they bound themselves together in the language of civil liberties.

Early signs were encouraging: Labour's controversial ID card scheme was scrapped and the enticingly titled protection of freedoms bill was conceived. But the romance was rocky. Unsafe and unfair control orders remained (albeit perfumed as terrorism prevention and investigation measures) and seductive promises of extradition reform failed to materialise.

Now the honeymoon appears well and truly over, thanks no doubt to some "spooky" extramarital intervention. Hot on the heels of the secret justice green paper – which seeks to shut claimants out of their own cases against the state to defend the "public interest" – comes a major expansion of powers to monitor the phone calls, emails and website visits of every person in the UK.

Next month's Queen's speech is expected to include legislation instructing internet service providers to install hardware that would give the government's electronic listening agency, GCHQ, increased access to communications data.

The ask is greedier than ever before, and the proposed data collection vast. Everyone will be affected, irrespective of any suspicion, just in case the information might prove useful one day. This is the blanket surveillance of an entire population. Such industrial-scale snooping will inevitably lead to discrimination. Remember ethnic minorities' experience of stop-and-search without suspicion? There will be nothing to prevent the creation of "mining databases": fishing expeditions based on certain keywords linked solely to clumsy stereotypes rather than genuine and reasonable suspicion of individual wrongdoing. » | Isabella Sankey | Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Related »

Terrorism Debate: Are GCHQ Set to Spy on You?
THE SUN: A SNOOPER’S Charter is to be proposed by the Government next month. Under the new law all conversations over the internet, including social networking sites and Skype, plus emails will be recorded.

Police and security services will be able to demand details of who is having the conversation and what time it takes place, but will need a court order to listen to or read the content.

Opponents say it will bring the same kind of surveillance to the UK which takes place in China and Iran, while supporters say it’s a tool in the fight against terrorism.

Here Home Secretary Theresa May and former Shadow Home Secretary David Davis set out opposing views. » | Tuesday, April 03, 2012

THE GUARDIAN: Theresa May defends email surveillance plans: Home secretary says extension of powers for security services to monitor web communications is vital to catch criminals » | Rajeev Syal, Josh Hallyday and Haroon Siddique | Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Related »

Media Censorship On the Way
THE INDEPENDENT: Britain's security agencies and police would be given unprecedented and legally binding powers to ban the media from reporting matters of national security, under proposals being discussed in Whitehall.

The Intelligence and Security Committee, the parliamentary watchdog of the intelligence and security agencies which has a cross-party membership from both Houses, wants to press ministers to introduce legislation that would prevent news outlets from reporting stories deemed by the Government to be against the interests of national security.

The committee also wants to censor reporting of police operations that are deemed to have implications for national security.

The ISC is to recommend in its next report, out at the end of the year, that a commission be set up to look into its plans, according to senior Whitehall sources.

The ISC holds huge clout within Whitehall. It receives secret briefings from MI5, MI6 and GCHQ and is highly influential in forming government policy. Kim Howells, a respected former Foreign Office minister, was recently appointed its chairman.

Under the existing voluntary code of conduct, known as the DA-Notice system, the Government can request that the media does not report a story. However, the committee's members are particularly worried about leaks, which, they believe, could derail investigations and the reporting of which needs to be banned by legislation.

Civil liberties groups say these restrictions would be "very dangerous" and "damaging for public accountability". They also point out that censoring journalists when the leaks come from officials is unjustified. MPs Seek to Censor the Media >>> Exclusive by Kim Sengupta | November 10, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH: Media Could Face Reporting Ban on Issues of National Security

Plans for the security services and police to be given new legally-binding powers to ban the media from reporting matters of national security are being drawn up, it was claimed today.

The proposal is said to feature in a report due before the end of the year from the cross-party Intelligence and Security Committee, parliamentary watchdog of the intelligence and security agencies.

According to The Independent newspaper, unnamed sources at Whitehall say that the ISC will urge ministers to set up a commission to look into the proposal.

The ISC is appointed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and reports directly to him.

Its membership is made up of long-standing and trusted members of the major parties and it is chaired by former Foreign Office minister Kim Howells.

It receives secret briefings from MI5, MI6 and GCHQ and is highly influential in forming government policy.

The existing DA-Notice system is operated on a voluntary basis and overseen by the Defence, Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee (DPBAC), which brings together officials and representatives of the media.

Under this code of conduct, the Government can request that the media does not report a story which could compromise UK military and intelligence operations or lead to attacks that would damage the critical national infrastructure or endanger lives. >>> By Charlotte Bailey | November 10, 2008

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