Electronic Surveillance In The UK

The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 ("RIP") provides for a new surveillance regime governing intrusive investigative techniques. Critics of government policy fear that this will dramatically increase the compliance costs for online businesses in the United Kingdom, particularly Internet Service Providers ("ISPs"). RIP will also impact on consumer confidence in UK based e-businesses, once people become aware that private communications can be intercepted.

The government claims that European legislation, the Telecoms Data Protection Directive, necessitated RIP. However RIP may have gone further than the Directive required.

Key relevant highlights are:

• The creation of new civil liability for unlawful interception on a private network by the operator of that system, which therefore affects businesses which check staff use of the web and e-mail;