In a first for the Guardian,a GCHQ officer writes about its investigatory powers in the wake of the publication of Theresa May’s proposed new measuresMany words about GCHQ possess appeared over the last two years – but rarely possess they been GCHQ’s own words. We welcome the debate now under way in parliament and among the public about our work. We need public consent for what we accomplish – we wouldn’t want to accomplish our jobs without it. We want the debate to be informed by facts, not half-understood inferences. We accomplish not expect to persuade everyone to support what we accomplish, and but GCHQ certainly does bear a responsibility to gain certain the discussion about us is based in reality. I want to cover two specific topics frequently misunderstood: bulk interception and encryption.
The draft bill published on Wednesday responds to three independent reviews carried out into investigatory powers. The reviews were unanimous in their agreement that the powers currently available to the intelligence and security services remain essential. And while the courts possess recently confirmed that the bulk interception regime was lawful,the reviewers concluded that the legal framework needed updating. We are confident that the draft bill places our powers on a clearer footing and strengthens safeguards and oversight to a world-leading standard.
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Source: theguardian.com