Comms data requests by C&E & the Inland Revenue

[John R T Brazier]

Richard Clayton quoted (Comms data requests by C&E & the Inland Revenue):

> Mr. John Denham: The Interception of Communications Act 1985 did not
> provide for access to communications data. The Metropolitan Police made
> approximately 127,000 separate requests for communication data under the
> Data Protection Act 1998 in the last year. The access to communications
> data provisions in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
> (RIPA) have not yet been implemented.

Surely this is gibberish? The DPA has much to say on personal data,
sensitive data, data subjects, data users and so forth. It has nothing about
"communication data". Or has the Met used the Act in an entirely negative
sense (ie "This data isn't covered by your Act, so we're going to have it")?
IANAL, but this seems a refreshing approach. The DPA was meant to be about
Data Protection, not Data Exploitation.

And, of course, as Richard pointed out, 127K vs 155K, what's 20% between
friends? Amazing, given that these numbers ultimately come from the same
organization - or do they?

JB