Mastering the Internet

[Peter Fairbrother]

"Mastering the Internet" is a GCHQ program said to involve the 
installation of black boxes at ISPs. Apparently several £100 millions of 
contracts have been awarded.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6211101.ece
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/03/gchq_mti/


Surely this is illegal under RIPA? Or is there a later law legalising it?

My El Reg comments reproduced:

The secretary of state may make an order under s.12 of RIPA for the 
inclusion of such interception "black boxes" - but the order has to be 
laid before Parliament and approved by a resolution of each House.

If this has not happened - and it hasn't - then any ISP installing a 
"black box" will be acting illegally.

Moreover, even GCHQ cannot intercept without a warrant, which for 
domestic communications (those not going to or from someone outside the 
UK), must be only for communications to/from a specific person or 
premises which must be mentioned by name therein, and which must be 
signed by the hand of the relevant Secretary of State.

The Home Secretary issues warrants for domestic interceptions - the 
Foreign Secretary signs warrants for foreign interceptions, and could 
issue a single blanket warrant for ALL international communications, 
which the Home Secretary cannot do for domestic interceptions, each 
domestic warrant must be for a single person or premises.

If a "black box" is trawling for suspicious content or keywords, it is 
intercepting ALL the communications it looks at even if it does nothing 
more than look at most of them.

Unless the Home Secretary has signed 60 million warrants - I suspect 
she'd have noticeable writer's cramp if she had, and it would show up in 
the Commissioner's annual report - then GCHQ would be acting illegally 
if it trawled most domestic communications.

As an addendum, although I haven't looked into this in detail I am 
fairly sure that the contractors will be breaking the law too, and the 
contracts will therefore be unenforceable.


-- Peter Fairbrother