Liberty crowd funds for legal challenge to Investigatory Powers Act

Liberty is seeking to raise £10,000 through crowd funding for a High Court challenge over the Investigatory Powers Act, which the human rights group has dubbed a ‘Snoopers’ Charter’.

The group has already raised £8,235 towards its target on Crowd Justice, with 305 people donating.

Commenting on the challenge on Crowd Justice, Liberty said: “Ever googled something personal?

“Who you text, email or call. Your social media activity. Which websites you visit.

“Who you bank with. Where your kids go to school. Your sexual preferences, health worries, religious and political beliefs.

“Since November, the Snoopers’ Charter – the Investigatory Powers Act – has let the Government access all this intimate information, building up an incredibly detailed picture of you, your family and friends, your hobbies and habits – your entire life.

“And it won’t just be accessed by the Home Secretary. Dozens of agencies – the Department for Work and Pensions, HMRC and 46 others – can now see sensitive details of your personal life.”

Liberty said the Act allowed the Government to keep records of and monitor private emails, texts and phone calls “and all without any suspicion of wrongdoing”.

The group will seek to challenge the lawfulness of the following powers, which it claims breach the public’s rights:

• Bulk hacking – “the Act lets police and agencies access, control and alter electronic devices like computers, phones and tablets on an industrial scale, regardless of whether their owners are suspected of involvement in crime – leaving them vulnerable to further attack by hackers.”
• Bulk interception – “the Act allows the state to read texts, online messages and emails and listen in on calls en masse, without requiring suspicion of criminal activity.”
• Bulk acquisition of everybody’s communications data and internet history – “the Act forces communications companies and service providers to hand over records of everybody’s emails, phone calls and texts and entire web browsing history to state agencies to store, data-mine and profile at its will.”
• ‘Bulk personal datasets’ – “the Act lets agencies acquire and link vast databases held by the public or private sector. These contain details on religion, ethnic origin, sexuality, political leanings and health problems, potentially on the entire population – and are ripe for abuse and discrimination.”

The group said the £10,000 would help it secure permission from the courts to proceed with its case against the Government.