Expert Witness Statement for Big Brother Watch and Others Re: Large-Scale Internet Surveillance by the UK

Abstract

In this witness statement for Big Brother Watch, Open Rights Group, English PEN, and Dr. Constanze Kurz, in their application to the European Court of Human Rights regarding UK intelligence agency GCHQ's TEMPORA programme of large-scale Internet surveillance, I briefly address the following matters: 1. The growth of Internet surveillance in the UK; 2. The recent disclosures in the Guardian newspaper regarding the UK Government’s Internet surveillance activities and the subsequent UK Government response; 3. How the disclosed programmes are likely to operate; 4. The legal basis for the programmes under UK law; and 5. Brief commentary on the significance of this information.

Keywords: privacy, surveillance, interception, European Convention on Human Rights, Article 8, Article 10, Article 11

JEL Classification: K33, K42, O33, O38