Going 'Below the Waterline': The Paradoxical Regulation of Secret Surveillance in the UK

Abstract

The Investigatory Powers Tribunal recently found that government surveillance was unlawful, marking the first time that the secretive court has ever ruled against the UK’s Intelligence Services. Yet the Tribunal also held that the unlawful situation had been remedied by the Tribunal’s decision; a paradoxical and unprecedented result that says much about the difficulties of effectively regulating secret activity.

Keywords: Investigatory Powers Tribunal, Investigatory Powers Act, surveillance, privacy