Today, the Court of Justice of the EU has delivered a Judgment that could force the UK Government to re-write the controversial Investigatory Powers Act (IP Act) – more popularly known as the Snoopers Charter. The ruling will also have ramifications across Europe.
Commenting, Craig Fagan, Policy Director at the World Wide Web Foundation said:
“Bulk surveillance simply has no place in a modern democracy. We urge Parliament to take heed of this ruling – which was requested by a British court – and rewrite the Investigatory Powers Act. After more than 200,000 people signed a petition against the Act, it is clear that citizens want change.
“Collecting everyone’s browsing data as mandated by the IP Act is neither necessary nor proportionate – it tramples on our right to privacy and creates a honeypot of valuable information for criminals to attack.
“Other EU countries must also pay heed to the ruling. This is a clear signal from the Court that bulk data retention has no place in the EU, so similar laws being considered across the continent will have to be revised or scrapped.”
—
We congratulate Liberty, the Open Rights Group and Privacy International – the civil society organisations that led this challenge. Their detailed briefings and releases on this subject can be found at:
- Open Rights Group: https://www.openrightsgroup.org/press/releases/2016/parliament-must-change-the-investigatory-powers-act-in-response-to-cjeu-ruling
- Privacy International: https://medium.com/@privacyint/press-release-landmark-ruling-by-european-court-could-render-the-uk-governments-new-snoopers-e7caff2b59e7#.k0jb2tuqm
—
For more information, or to schedule an interview, please contact press@webfoundation.org