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ECHR case challenges UK government over surveillance of journalists’ communications

Bureau of Investigative Journalism | September 15, 2014

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism is asking a European court to rule on whether UK legislation properly protects journalists’ sources and communications from government scrutiny and mass surveillance.

The Bureau’s application was filed with the European Court of Human Rights on Friday. If the court rules in favour of the application it will force the UK government to review regulation around the mass collection of communications data.

The action follows concerns about the implications to journalists of some of the revelations that have come out of material leaked by Edward Snowden.

These have made it clear that by using mass surveillance techniques, government agencies can not only collect, store and scrutinise the content of electronic communications but also analyse masses of metadata – the details about where digital communications such as emails originate and the subject area of those communications.

Gavin Millar QC, who is working on the case with the Bureau, believes UK authorities are routinely carrying out such data collection and analysis and says this enables a sophisticated picture to be developed of a journalist’s or organisation’s network of contacts, sources and lines of enquiry as well as materials, subjects and persons of interest to them.

Click here for a summary of the case.

Why data harvesting is a human rights issue – find out why we’re doing this.

Gavin Millar QC: A breach of international law.

September 15, 2014 - Posted by | Civil Liberties, Full Spectrum Dominance, Mainstream Media, Warmongering | ,

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