BBC News reports Liberty, a U.K. civil rights group, has made a claim to the High Court regarding the U.K. government's alleged unlawful, broad use of the Investigatory Powers Act. The law allows the government to collect surveillance data from the majority of U.K. citizens, including individuals who are not suspected of any wrongdoing. Liberty alleges the IPA's collection powers go against the European Convention on Human Rights. "These powers permit the interception or obtaining, processing, retention and examination of the private information of very large numbers of people — in some cases, the whole population," Liberty Barrister Martin Chamberlain said. Government lawyers are prepared to argue that their methods do not pose a risk of an invasion of privacy based on the limited use of the data.
Full Story