British authorities have admitted to spying on UK users of social media services like Facebook and Twitter, but claim this mass surveillance is justified as the data and services are located overseas.
Under UK law, a warrant is required for intelligence agencies and police to monitor “internal” communications, but GCHQ has said that as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other online services are based overseas in the US, then the communications are treated as “external”. This means that law enforcement do not have to prove a suspicion of wrongdoing before monitoring the Facebook or other messages.
The admission by Director general of Security and Counter Terrorism, Charles Farr, came in the form of a 48-page statement in response to a challenge from a number of civil liberties groups against the mass surveillance programme called “Tempura” revealed by NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden.
Farr said:
“The only practical way in which the government can ensure that it is able to obtain at least a fraction of the type of communication in which it is interested is to provide for the interception of a large volume of communication.”
