UK’s Unprecedented Mass Surveillance Powers Ruled Illegal By EU Court

Europe’s highest court has dealt a major blow to a major recent expansion of government mass-surveillance powers in the UK, ruling that the indiscriminate retention and collection of citizens’ location and internet browsing histories without a warrant is illegal.

The ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) follows the UK’s controversial Investigatory Powers Act, better known as the “Snooper’s Charter,” which signed into law the most expansive set of surveillance powers ever passed by any Western nation. The IP Act requires UK Internet Service Providers to retain all customers’ browsing histories and other “electronic communication transaction records” for government inspection without a warrant, including the time and location details of every digital interaction.

But the European high court’s ruling, while not specifically aimed at the Snooper’s Charter, declares that the “general and indiscriminate retention” of that data is illegal. It says that companies can only be required to retain data for fighting serious crimes like terrorism, and that any government access to that data must be targeted, backed by a court’s approval, and should inform those affected by the retention.

“Today’s judgment is a major blow against mass surveillance and an important day for privacy. It makes clear that blanket and indiscriminate retention of our digital histories — who we interact with, when and how and where — can be a very intrusive form of surveillance that needs strict safeguards against abuse and mission creep,” wrote Camilla Graham Wood, a legal officer at the UK-based charity Privacy International.

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