[Spy News] Whose telephone can MI5 bug? (fwd)

[Jei]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 23:06:56 +0100
From: Mario Profaca <Mario.Profaca@zg.tel.hr>
Reply-To: spynews-owner@yahoogroups.com
To: "[Spy News]" <spynews@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [Spy News] Whose telephone can MI5 bug?

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,8-2001582074,00.html

MONDAY DECEMBER 17 2001

Whose telephone can MI5 bug?

A Muslim Labour peer has claimed that his phone was bugged by the security
services. Lord Ahmed, who has openly opposed the war in Afghanistan, is
writing to the surveillance watchdog with his accusation. Denis MacShane,
the Foreign Office Minister, has described the allegation as "the cat's
testicles."

Michael Evans, Defence Editor of The Times, explains the law on bugging.

Which British security agencies can bug or intercept telephone calls in the
UK?

Normally, the Security Service, MI5, has the job of intercepting the
telephone calls of suspected subversives or spies. The police are involved
in cases concerned solely with criminal acts.

On what grounds are they allowed to this?

MI5's role is to protect the security of the realm, so it would have to have
grounds for suspecting that the action of an individual is in some way
undermining the country's national security or economic wellbeing.

What process do they have to go through before they can bug?

The agency concerned has to apply for a warrant, normally from the Home
Secretary himself.

Has the law changed on this recently?

The law has not changed in relation to warrants. They are still required
from the Home Secretary. However, a new law, the Regulation of Investigatory
Powers Act, covers all aspects of communications, such as e-mail, mobile
phones and the Internet. Internet service providers and mobile phone
companies are obliged to hand over personal codes so that MI5 can intercept
conversations.

What redress do individuals have if they discover that they are being
bugged?

If they feel that MI5 has abused their rights they are entitled to take
their case to an independent security tribunal, which was introduced as part
of the Security Service Act. Ultimately, they can appeal to the European
Court of Human Rights, but only after they have exhausted all possible
domestic legal avenues.

The Government has denied having bugged Lord Ahmed. Why is this denial an
unusual departure?

The denials have come from Downing Street, rather than from MI5. It is
certainly unusual to have official denials, but presumably they were made
after checking out the claim with MI5. It is difficult to see how MI5 could
have got a warrant to bug Lord Ahmed's phone just because he was against the
war in Afghanistan. There is nothing subversive about that.

Have politicians been bugged by security agencies in the past?

Yes they have, in the days when there was a far greater obsession with
leftwingers and rightwingers. The most notable politicians with MI5 files,
dating back to their student days, which may have included intercept
material, were Peter Mandelson and Jack Straw.

Copyright 2001 Times Newspapers Ltd.

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