Ars Technica reports on the release of a joint committee parliamentary report that “only feebly challenges the government’s draft Investigatory Powers Bill,” despite a report by the Intelligence and Security Committee that took a much more critical stance. By contrast, the joint committee report is OK with almost all of the intelligence-gathering provisions of the so-called Snooper’s Charter and calls for only minor tweaks to the plan. It suggests, however, a review of the charter be conducted five years after the bill is passed, and it asks for it to be illegal for foreign intelligence agencies to take surveillance beyond what U.K. intelligence agencies are permitted to do themselves.
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