Legality of the Investigatory Power Bill to be investigated by the EU Court

The recent approval of the United Kingdom on the Investigatory Power Bill will be investigated by the European Court of Justice. The ECJ will look into the compatibility of the bill with the EU law.

With a majority vote of 281 against 15, the House of Commons approved the Investigatory Powers Bill or also known as snoopers chart last March 15. The bill will now proceed to the committee stage for further inspection.

According to the European Court of Justice, the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 (Dripa)
 has been inconsistent with the EU laws and is the main reason why they are ruling against the recent UK government surveillance legislation. The inquiry into the new Investigatory Power Bill will be contested in April and will be attended by Conservative Members of the Parliament particularly David Davis that took the Dripa bill into further inquiry as per Sputnik News.

As reported by The Guardian, Millie Graham Wood of Privacy International said the existing EU law rules out data retention regimes that are contained in the Dripa bill and is the same with the Investigatory Powers Bill. She added that the blanket retention of communications data without any suspicions violates every citizen's right to privacy which will place the security of any personal data at risk for criminals and other people.

According to Quartz, the process has been uptight to reach this stage. Giant tech companies which includes Apple and Google have shown their opposition to the bill's power to hack and collect data at the same time. More than 200 senior lawyers have already signed a letter claiming that the bill has deviated from the international law on surveillance. The UN's privacy chief has also shown its dismay on the new bill.

The new proposed bill was made to provide UK authorities and other intelligence services extensive control. The bill requires internet provider to gather their customer's 12-month internet data and give it to authorities when needed. The police will also have the power to hack into anyone's phone, laptop, tablets and computers. However, Theresa May, UK Home Secretary, has defended the bill, saying it still minds everybody's privacy and maintains discretion of personal data.

Tags

United Kingdom, UK's investigatory Power Bill, European Union, Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014, evasion of privacy, David Davis, data risk

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