AN intelligence watchdog inquiry into the intercept activities of UK spy agencies will take evidence from members of the public in the wake of widespread concern over "snooping".
Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) will broaden its probe into if laws on intercepting private communications are adequate in the internet age amid fears over the "impact upon people's privacy as the agencies seek to find the needles in the haystacks".
Earlier this year, an ISC inquiry found GCHQ did not use the US internet monitoring programme in order to circumvent UK laws.
The committee said 197 counter-intelligence reports generated by GCHQ through the US Prism programme - exposed by former intelligence analyst Edward Snowden - had been properly signed off by ministers.
The furore over the activities of agencies on both sides of the Atlantic prompted the committee to mount a wider investigation.
ISC chairman Sir Malcolm Rifkind said: "In recent months concern has been expressed at the suggested extent of the capabilities available to the intelligence agencies and the impact upon people's privacy as the agencies seek to find the needles in the haystacks that might be crucial to safeguarding national security.
"There is a balance to be found between our individual right to privacy and our collective right to security. An informed and responsible debate is needed.
"The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament has therefore decided to broaden the scope of its forthcoming inquiry to consider these wider questions, in addition to those relating to the existing legislative framework."
Nick Pickles, director of Big Brother Watch, said; "This is a welcome step forward given the widespread concern that Britain's surveillance laws are not fit for purpose,"
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article