Does the British Hacking Efforts Comply with Human Rights Laws?

A group of privacy advocates and internet providers has filed a new challenge to the UK government's use of bulk hacking abroad

Does the British Hacking Efforts Comply with Human Rights Laws?

gchq.gov.uk

The UK-based Privacy International and five internet and communications providers aim to "bring the government's hacking under the rule of law," reported the PC World.

Their application challenges the UK Investigatory Powers Tribunal's (IPT's) February refusal to rule on whether hacking efforts outside the UK by the GCHQ British intelligence service (the equivalent of the Israeli 8200 unit and the American NSA) comply with the European Convention on Human Rights.

That decision was part of a case brought by Privacy International against GCHQ back in 2014, and it effectively meant that the UK government could lawfully conduct bulk hacking of computers, mobile devices, and networks located anywhere outside of the UK, the group said.

"The IPT's decision permits the British government to hack untold numbers of computers devices or networks abroad without any proper legal framework, oversight or safeguards," Scarlet Kim, legal officer for Privacy International, said in a published statement.

Hacking is "extremely intrusive," Kim added. "Allowing the British Government to hack, therefore, sanctions an extraordinary expansion of state surveillance capabilities, with alarming consequences for the privacy and security of many people around the world."

In May, Privacy International filed a separate Judicial Review at the UK High Court challenging a separate aspect of the IPT's decision – namely, that the British government can issue general warrants to hack the electronic devices of broad classes of people, both inside and outside the UK.