Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to bring forward proposals for the creation of the Independent Privacy and Civil Liberties Board.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Following the commitment made during the passage of the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014, legislation to establish an Independent Privacy and Civil Liberties Board will be brought forward shortly.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the use of predictive analytics as a law enforcement tool.
Answered by Mike Penning
A number of police forces are using predictive policing techniques, particularly to reduce crimes like burglary. The Home Office has undertaken no
formal assessment of these techniques, but the College of Policing has plans to release a technical assessment of different predictive crime mapping models and software. This will inform police forces’ decisions about appropriate analytical tools and techniques.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the statement made by the then Prime Minister to the House on 2 March 1972 on the use of the five techniques relating to interrogation of prisoners is still the policy of the Government.
Answered by James Brokenshire
None of the five techniques which the 1972 Committee considered is permissible under current law.
UK police forces are required to adhere to the provisions PACE Code H and Schedule 8 to the Terrorism Act 2000, which deal respectively with the detention of individuals who are suspected of being involved in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism and the procedures which must be followed in those cases.
Independent Custody Visitors, lay individuals who visit designated places of detention of terrorist suspects additionally review and report on the condition of their detention, to the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation who annually reports on the operation of the Terrorism Acts. The Independent Reviewer plays a vital role in scrutinising UK counter-terrorism legislation to ensure that it is fair, effective and proportionate.
In 2010, the Government published the ‘Consolidated Guidance to Intelligence Officers and Service Personnel on the Detention and Interviewing of Detainees Overseas, and on the Passing and Receipt of Intelligence Relating to Detainees’. This guidance set out the principles, consistent with UK domestic law and international law obligations, which govern the interviewing of detainees overseas and the passing and receipt of intelligence relating to detainees. This guidance must be adhered to by officers of the UK’s intelligence and security agencies, members of the UK’s Armed Forces and employees of the Ministry of Defence.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to improve the level of transparency in the Government's use of personal data.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The UK has one of the most transparent regimes in the world in relation to the use of investigatory powers, which involve the accessing of personal data. The Interception of Communications Commissioner provides robust, independent oversight of the use of these investigatory powers and provides a published annual report to Parliament. This report includes statistics on public authorities’ use of interception and communications data powers, and his 2013 report contained more statistics than ever before. The Government remains committed to looking at what more can be done to enhance the transparency of our regime. The Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014, which was passed in July, requires the Interception of Communications Commissioner to report on a twice yearly basis in the future. In addition, the Act provides for a review of investigatory powers to be conducted by the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, David Anderson QC. This review will be completed by 1 May 2015 and its findings will be reported to Parliament. The Government also announced, alongside the Act, the publication of an annual Government Transparency Report on investigatory powers.
The Government is fully committed to supporting a safe and secure online environment. That is why it is crucial that our law enforcement and
intelligence agencies have strictly regulated powers to ensure that those that would seek to do harm online, as well as in the real world, cannot carry out their activities with impunity. There are limits to what could be said publically about operational investigative techniques, as to do so would potentially help criminals to evade detection. However, crucial capabilities to access communications data are degrading because of rapidly changing technology and the increasing use of internet communications, whether or not those communications utilise encryption or anonymity techniques. Legislation is needed urgently to ensure that public authorities have the powers they need to investigate crime, safeguard national security and protect the public. We cannot allow cyberspace to become a haven for criminals, terrorists and paedophiles.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of online do not track tools on (a) Government efforts to gather communications data and (b) individual online privacy.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The UK has one of the most transparent regimes in the world in relation to the use of investigatory powers, which involve the accessing of personal data. The Interception of Communications Commissioner provides robust, independent oversight of the use of these investigatory powers and provides a published annual report to Parliament. This report includes statistics on public authorities’ use of interception and communications data powers, and his 2013 report contained more statistics than ever before. The Government remains committed to looking at what more can be done to enhance the transparency of our regime. The Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014, which was passed in July, requires the Interception of Communications Commissioner to report on a twice yearly basis in the future. In addition, the Act provides for a review of investigatory powers to be conducted by the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, David Anderson QC. This review will be completed by 1 May 2015 and its findings will be reported to Parliament. The Government also announced, alongside the Act, the publication of an annual Government Transparency Report on investigatory powers.
The Government is fully committed to supporting a safe and secure online environment. That is why it is crucial that our law enforcement and
intelligence agencies have strictly regulated powers to ensure that those that would seek to do harm online, as well as in the real world, cannot carry out their activities with impunity. There are limits to what could be said publically about operational investigative techniques, as to do so would potentially help criminals to evade detection. However, crucial capabilities to access communications data are degrading because of rapidly changing technology and the increasing use of internet communications, whether or not those communications utilise encryption or anonymity techniques. Legislation is needed urgently to ensure that public authorities have the powers they need to investigate crime, safeguard national security and protect the public. We cannot allow cyberspace to become a haven for criminals, terrorists and paedophiles.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how her Department took into account the recommendations of the Joint Committee on the Draft Communications Data Bill when drafting the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Bill.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Secretary of State for the Home Department has already made clear that the Government accepted the substance of all of the recommendations of the Joint Committee on the Draft Communications Data Bill (Hansard: House of Commons Debate, 7 January 2013, Column 17). The Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 did not replicate the proposals that were included in the Draft Communications Data Bill. The Act simply preserved existing capabilities and extended current safeguards to respond to the European Court of Justice judgment on the Data Retention Directive 2006.
Alongside the Act, it was also announced that we will reduce the number of public authorities that are able to access communications data under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and require all local authorities to process communications data requests through a centralised "Single Point of Contact" service provided by the National Anti Fraud Network. Whilst these changes respond to some of the Joint Committee’s recommendations, they do not close the key capability gaps which the Joint Committee recognised needed to be closed. These capability gaps have not been addressed and continue to grow.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to ensure that the public is properly informed of how to ensure the safety and security of their personal details online.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The Government takes the issue of cyber crime extremely seriously. Cyber Streetwise is the Government’s national campaign to increase online security by encouraging both members of the public and SMEs to take simple actions to protect themselves and their information online as they would do in ‘real life’. Cyber Streetwise first launched in January 2014 and is funded by the Government’s National Cyber Security Programme. Following its initial success, Phase 2 of the campaign launched this week with a newly designed website, including a dedicated section on protecting your online privacy.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of data-tagging as a tool for protecting against data breaches.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The Home Office continues to evaluate a variety of controls and measures for protecting against data breaches, implementing those which provide the right balance of risk mitigation and cost effectiveness.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which organisations collect subscriptions through the employers' payroll service in her Department and its agencies.
Answered by Karen Bradley
The Ministry of Justice Payroll Services make deductions from salary on behalf
of the Home Office and its agencies staff for the 42 organisations listed in
the following table.
This does not include salary sacrifice schemes offered internally by
the Home Office. The cross indicates those that had deductions collected in May
2014.