Policy Observatory

Mr. Cameron said that a Tory Government would pass a new law to ensure that the intelligence agencies would be able to track phone calls and internet messages. He said that this power to track “who made which call, to which person, and when” was “absolutely crucial not just in terrorism but finding missing people, murder investigations, almost every single serious crime. "What matters is that we can access this communications data whether people are using fixed phones, mobile phones or more modern ways of communicating via the internet."

MPs wants guarantees from the government that the decision to give the security services wider powers to tap phones and internet traffic will not be abused, website nu.nl reports on Tuesday. Home affairs minister Ronald Plasterk and defence minister Jeanine Hennis are due to present their draft legislation for

MPs wants guarantees from the government that the decision to give the security services wider powers to tap phones and internet traffic will not be abused, website nu.nl reports on Tuesday. Home affairs minister Ronald Plasterk and defence minister Jeanine Hennis are due to present their draft legislation for expanding the security services’ intelligence-gathering powers shortly. Nu.nl questioned various party representatives about their position.

Socialist Party MP Ronald van Raak said the security services could only be given more powers if the influence of US and British secret services was removed. Plasterk, he pointed out, has been unable to say whether Dutch journalists are being spied on by the British security service GCHQ. In addition, ‘the way the NSA has behaved has destroyed trust in the Americans,’ he said. ‘Our security service regulator has also spoken about the breach of trust. Plasterk said he would do something about it, but I have heard nothing.’

France's government is pressing a surveillance bill that would give French intelligence services legal backing to vacuum up metadata in hopes of preventing an imminent terror attack.

The bill "would pave the way for extremely intrusive surveillance practices with no judicial pre-authorization," the organization Amnesty International said in a statement.

The bill was proposed long before the deadly Paris attacks by Islamic extremists earlier this year, but the government says it takes on added urgency with each person who radicalizes and turns against France.

The Austrian Parliament adopted a resolution, urging the government to act against illegal surveillance by secret services like NSA or GCHQ. Besides that, the Parliament wants to see further steps on an European level to create technological independence for Europe in information and communication technologies.

On February 10th 2015, at the General Meeting of the Dutch House of Representatives concerning the Dutch Intelligence & Security Act of 2002 (Wiv2002),the Minister of the Interior promised to send a letter that provides information on three topics raised during the debate: the offer of a technical briefing on cable interception, the Privacy Impact Assessment requested by MP Gerard Schouw (D66), and an explanation of the further procedure of revising the Wiv2002. On March 17th 2015, the Minister sent the letter he promised. The PIA model, tailored to the legal tasks of the AIVD and MIVD, will be applied to the proposed changes to the existing Intelligence & Security Act of 2002.

On March 31st 2015, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of a Dutch General Intelligence & Security Service (AIVD) officer for leaking classified information to journalists from the Dutch newspaper De telegraaf, ruling that that the AIVD official cannot invoke rights granted by Article 10 ECHR concerning protection of journalistic sources.

Please find more information in English here and in Dutch here.