Scarfo "keylogger", PGP

[Nicholas Bohm]

At 16:28 16-10-2001 +0100, David Hansen wrote:
>On 16 Oct 2001 at 13:41, Nicholas Bohm wrote:
>
>> Part III of the Police Act 1997, which
>> enables a chief constable
>
>An unaccountable employee of an unaccountable Quango.
>
>> to authorise intereference with property
>
>I would call it deliberate damage.
>
>> if this will be of substantial value 
>
>Is there a definition of substantial, or is at the whim of the said employee?
>
>> in in the prevention or detection of serious crime
>
>Who decides what is serious and who decides that something is a crime?
>
>> and this is the only way of achieving it.
>
>Who decides this? I can think of no circumstances in which this will be
the only way of doing 
>something.

Roland has responded on a number of these points, and answers (of a sort)
to some of the others lie in the procedures for supervision by
Commissioners laid down in the Act, which I was trying to summarise very
briefly.  The legislation is available online, and deserves a proper read.

I certainly think that it is unsatisfactory for powers to interfere with
property (which can certainly extend to causing deliberate damage) to be
exercisable without judicial authority given on the basis of sworn evidence
which can be made subject to subsequent challenge.  

Regards

Nicholas

Salkyns, Great Canfield,
Takeley, Bishop’s Stortford CM22 6SX, UK

Phone	01279 871272	(+44 1279 871272)
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PGP RSA 1024 bit public key ID: 0x08340015.  Fingerprint:
9E 15 FB 2A 54 96 24 37  98 A2 E0 D1 34 13 48 07
PGP DSS/DH 1024/3072 public key ID: 0x899DD7FF.  Fingerprint:
5248 1320 B42E 84FC 1E8B  A9E6 0912 AE66 899D D7FF