Legalize / United Kingdom / Public General Act

Investigatory Powers Act 2016

Type Public General Act

Publication 2016-11-29

State In force

Department Statute Law Database

Source legislation.gov.uk

Reform history JSON API

Part 1 — General privacy protections

Overview and general privacy duties

Overview of Act

1

(1) This Act sets out the extent to which certain investigatory powers may be used to interfere with privacy.

(2) This Part imposes certain duties in relation to privacy and contains other protections for privacy.

(3) These other protections include offences and penalties in relation to—

(a) the unlawful interception of communications, and

(b) the unlawful obtaining of communications data.

(4) This Part also abolishes and restricts various general powers to obtain communications data and restricts the circumstances in which equipment interference, and certain requests about the interception of communications, can take place.

(5) Further protections for privacy—

(a) can be found, in particular, in the regimes provided for by Parts 2 to 7 and in the oversight arrangements in Part 8, and

(b) also exist—

(i) by virtue of the Human Rights Act 1998,

(ii) in section 170 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (unlawful obtaining etc of personal data),

(iii) in section 48 of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 (offence of interception or disclosure of messages),

(iv) in sections 1 to 3A of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 (computer misuse offences),

(v) in the common law offence of misconduct in public office, and

(vi) elsewhere in the law.

(6) The regimes provided for by Parts 2 to 7B are as follows—

(a) Part 2 and Chapter 1 of Part 6 set out circumstances (including under a warrant) in which the interception of communications is lawful and make further provision about the interception of communications and the treatment of material obtained in connection with it,

(b) Part 3 and Chapter 2 of Part 6 set out circumstances in which the obtaining of communications data is lawful in pursuance of an authorisation or under a warrant and make further provision about the obtaining and treatment of such data,

(d) Part 5 and Chapter 3 of Part 6 deal with equipment interference warrants, and

(e) Parts 7 to 7B deal with bulk personal dataset warrants and authorisations.

(7) As to the rest of the Act—

(a) Part 8 deals with oversight arrangements for regimes in this Act and elsewhere, and

(b) Part 9 contains miscellaneous and general provisions including amendments to sections 3 and 5 of the Intelligence Services Act 1994 and provisions about national security and combined warrants and authorisations.

General duties in relation to privacy

2

(1) Subsection (2) applies where a public authority is deciding whether—

(a) to issue, renew or cancel a warrant under Part 2, 5, 6 , 7 or 7B,

(b) to modify such a warrant,

(d) to grant, approve or cancel an authorisation under Part 3,

(e) to give a notice in pursuance of such an authorisation or under Part 4 or section 252, 253 or 257,

(f) to vary or revoke such a notice,

(g) to approve a decision to give or vary a notice under Part 4 or section 252, 253 or 257,

(h) to approve the use of criteria under section 153, 194 or 222,

(i) to give an authorisation under section 219(3)(b),

(j) to approve a decision to give such an authorisation, ...

(ja) to grant, renew or cancel an authorisation under Part 7A,

(jb) to approve a decision to grant or renew such an authorisation, or

(k) to apply for or otherwise seek any issue, grant, giving, modification, variation or renewal of a kind falling within paragraph (a), (b), (d), (e), (f) , (i) or (ja).

(2) The public authority must have regard to—

(a) whether what is sought to be achieved by the warrant, authorisation or notice could reasonably be achieved by other less intrusive means,

(b) whether the level of protection to be applied in relation to any obtaining of information by virtue of the warrant, authorisation or notice is higher because of the particular sensitivity of that information,

(d) any other aspects of the public interest in the protection of privacy.

(3) The duties under subsection (2)—

(a) apply so far as they are relevant in the particular context, and

(b) are subject to the need to have regard to other considerations that are also relevant in that context.

(4) The other considerations may, in particular, include—

(a) the interests of national security or of the economic well-being of the United Kingdom,

(b) the public interest in preventing or detecting serious crime,

(i) whether the conduct authorised or required by the warrant, authorisation or notice is proportionate, or

(ii) whether it is necessary to act for a purpose provided for by this Act,

(d) the requirements of the Human Rights Act 1998, and

(e) other requirements of public law.

(5) For the purposes of subsection (2)(b), examples of sensitive information include—

(a) items subject to legal privilege,

(b) any information identifying or confirming a source of journalistic information, and

(c) relevant confidential information within the meaning given by paragraph 2(4) of Schedule 7 (certain information held in confidence and consisting of personal records, journalistic material or communications between Members of Parliament and their constituents).

(6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Prohibitions against unlawful interception

Offence of unlawful interception

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(1) A person commits an offence if—

(a) the person intentionally intercepts a communication in the course of its transmission by means of—

(i) a public telecommunication system,

(ii) a private telecommunication system, or

(iii) a public postal service,

(b) the interception is carried out in the United Kingdom, and

(2) But it is not an offence under subsection (1) for a person to intercept a communication in the course of its transmission by means of a private telecommunication system if the person—

(a) is a person with a right to control the operation or use of the system, or

(b) has the express or implied consent of such a person to carry out the interception.

(3) Sections 4 and 5 contain provision about—

(a) the meaning of “interception”, and

(b) when interception is to be regarded as carried out in the United Kingdom.

(4) Section 6 contains provision about when a person has lawful authority to carry out an interception.

(5) For the meaning of the terms used in subsection (1)(a)(i) to (iii), see sections 261 and 262.

(6) A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (1) is liable—

(a) on summary conviction in England and Wales, to a fine;

(b) on summary conviction in Scotland or Northern Ireland, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum;

(7) No proceedings for any offence which is an offence by virtue of this section may be instituted—

(a) in England and Wales, except by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions;

(b) in Northern Ireland, except by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.

Definition of “interception” etc.

4

Interception in relation to telecommunication systems1For the purposes of this Act, a person intercepts a communication in the course of its transmission by means of a telecommunication system if, and only if—athe person does a relevant act in relation to the system, andbthe effect of the relevant act is to make any content of the communication available, at a relevant time, to a person who is not the sender or intended recipient of the communication.For the meaning of “content” in relation to a communication, see section 261(6).2In this section “relevant act”, in relation to a telecommunication system, means—amodifying, or interfering with, the system or its operation;bmonitoring transmissions made by means of the system;cmonitoring transmissions made by wireless telegraphy to or from apparatus that is part of the system.3For the purposes of this section references to modifying a telecommunication system include references to attaching any apparatus to, or otherwise modifying or interfering with—aany part of the system, orbany wireless telegraphy apparatus used for making transmissions to or from apparatus that is part of the system.4In this section “relevant time”, in relation to a communication transmitted by means of a telecommunication system, means—aany time while the communication is being transmitted, andbany time when the communication is stored in or by the system (whether before or after its transmission).5For the purposes of this section, the cases in which any content of a communication is to be taken to be made available to a person at a relevant time include any case in which any of the communication is diverted or recorded at a relevant time so as to make any content of the communication available to a person after that time.6In this section “wireless telegraphy” and “wireless telegraphy apparatus” have the same meaning as in the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 (see sections 116 and 117 of that Act).

Interception in relation to postal services7Section 125(3) of the Postal Services Act 2000 applies for the purposes of determining for the purposes of this Act whether a postal item is in the course of its transmission by means of a postal service as it applies for the purposes of determining for the purposes of that Act whether a postal packet is in course of transmission by post.

Interception carried out in the United Kingdom8For the purposes of this Act the interception of a communication is carried out in the United Kingdom if, and only if—athe relevant act or, in the case of a postal item, the interception is carried out by conduct within the United Kingdom, andbthe communication is intercepted—iin the course of its transmission by means of a public telecommunication system or a public postal service, oriiin the course of its transmission by means of a private telecommunication system in a case where the sender or intended recipient of the communication is in the United Kingdom.

Conduct that is not interception

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(1) References in this Act to the interception of a communication do not include references to the interception of any communication broadcast for general reception.

(2) References in this Act to the interception of a communication in the course of its transmission by means of a postal service do not include references to—

(a) any conduct that takes place in relation only to so much of the communication as consists of any postal data comprised in, included as part of, attached to, or logically associated with a communication (whether by the sender or otherwise) for the purposes of any postal service by means of which it is being or may be transmitted, or

(b) any conduct, in connection with conduct falling within paragraph (a), that gives a person who is neither the sender nor the intended recipient only so much access to a communication as is necessary for the purpose of identifying such postal data.

For the meaning of “postal data”, see section 262.

Definition of “lawful authority”

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(1) For the purposes of this Act, a person has lawful authority to carry out an interception if, and only if—

(a) the interception is carried out in accordance with—

(i) a targeted interception warrant or mutual assistance warrant under Chapter 1 of Part 2, or

(ii) a bulk interception warrant under Chapter 1 of Part 6,

(b) the interception is authorised by any of sections 44 to 52, or

(i) is carried out in accordance with a targeted equipment interference warrant under Part 5 or a bulk equipment interference warrant under Chapter 3 of Part 6,

(ii) is in the exercise of any statutory power that is exercised for the purpose of obtaining information or taking possession of any document or other property, or

(iii) is carried out in accordance with a court order made for that purpose.

(2) Conduct which has lawful authority for the purposes of this Act by virtue of subsection (1)(a) or (b) is to be treated as lawful for all other purposes.

(3) Any other conduct which—

(a) is carried out in accordance with a warrant under Chapter 1 of Part 2 or a bulk interception warrant, or

(b) is authorised by any of sections 44 to 52,

is to be treated as lawful for all purposes.

Monetary penalties for certain unlawful interceptions

7

(1) The Investigatory Powers Commissioner may serve a monetary penalty notice on a person if conditions A and B are met.

(2) A monetary penalty notice is a notice requiring the person on whom it is served to pay to the Investigatory Powers Commissioner (“the Commissioner”) a monetary penalty of an amount determined by the Commissioner and specified in the notice.

(3) Condition A is that the Commissioner considers that—

(a) the person has intercepted, in the United Kingdom, any communication in the course of its transmission by means of a public telecommunication system,

(b) the person did not have lawful authority to carry out the interception, and

(c) the person was not, at the time of the interception, making an attempt to act in accordance with an interception warrant which might, in the opinion of the Commissioner, explain the interception.

(4) Condition B is that the Commissioner does not consider that the person has committed an offence under section 3(1).

(5) The amount of a monetary penalty determined by the Commissioner under this section must not exceed £50,000.

(6) Schedule 1 (which makes further provision about monetary penalty notices) has effect.

(7) In this section “interception warrant” means—

(a) a targeted interception warrant or mutual assistance warrant under Chapter 1 of Part 2, or

(b) a bulk interception warrant under Chapter 1 of Part 6.

(8) For the meaning of “interception” and other key expressions used in this section, see sections 4 to 6.

Civil liability for certain unlawful interceptions

8

(1) An interception of a communication is actionable at the suit or instance of—

(a) the sender of the communication, or

(b) the recipient, or intended recipient, of the communication,

if conditions A to D are met.

(2) Condition A is that the interception is carried out in the United Kingdom.

(3) Condition B is that the communication is intercepted—

(a) in the course of its transmission by means of a private telecommunication system, or

(b) in the course of its transmission, by means of a public telecommunication system, to or from apparatus that is part of a private telecommunication system.

(4) Condition C is that the interception is carried out by, or with the express or implied consent of, a person who has the right to control the operation or use of the private telecommunication system.

(5) Condition D is that the interception is carried out without lawful authority.

(6) For the meaning of “interception” and other key expressions used in this section, see sections 4 to 6.

Restriction on requesting interception by overseas authorities

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(1) This section applies to a request for any authorities of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom to carry out the interception of communications sent by, or intended for, an individual who the person making the request believes will be in the British Islands at the time of the interception.

(2) A request to which this section applies may not be made by or on behalf of a person in the United Kingdom unless—

(a) a targeted interception warrant has been issued under Chapter 1 of Part 2 authorising the person to whom it is addressed to secure the interception of communications sent by, or intended for, that individual, or

(b) a targeted examination warrant has been issued under that Chapter authorising the person to whom it is addressed to carry out the selection of the content of such communications for examination.

Restriction on requesting assistance under mutual assistance agreements etc.

10

(1) This section applies to—

(a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(b) a request for assistance in accordance with an international mutual assistance agreement

so far as the assistance is in connection with, or in the form of, the interception of communications.

(2) A request to which this section applies may not be made by or on behalf of a person in the United Kingdom to the competent authorities of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom unless a mutual assistance warrant has been issued under Chapter 1 of Part 2 authorising the making of the request.

(2A) Subsection (2) does not apply in the case of a request for assistance in connection with, or in the form of, interception of a communication stored in or by a telecommunication system if the request is made—

(a) in the exercise of a statutory power that is exercised for the purpose of obtaining information or taking possession of any document or other property, or

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