THIS magazine recently had the temerity to report that under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 the government wants common-or-garden government departments to have snooper’s rights to cyberspace data (Â鶹´«Ã½, 22 June, p 3). I put the claim to Michael Wills, junior Home Office minister for IT and e-government policy, to gauge his reaction.
Wills replied that the act is not about giving access to the content of anybody’s communications but to data about those communications, such as itemised details of someone’s telephone calls. Such data can be an important investigative tool, and in some cases a…
