The Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act is to be amended before it even comes into force to dramatically increase the number of official bodies that can access personal details of phone calls and emails. The Act was hugely controversial when it went through Parliament in 2000, with defeats for the Government in the Lords and significant changes being made to prevent its complete rejection.

Now the powers that were originally only given to the police, customs, secret services and the taxman are to be made available to a huge range of Government departments, local authorities, the NHS and even to Consignia (the Post Office).

Ian Brown, Director of FIPR commented, "I am appalled at this huge increase in the scope of Government snooping. Two years ago, we were deeply concerned that these powers were to be given to the police without any judicial oversight. Now they're handing them out to a practically endless queue of bureaucrats in Whitehall and Town Halls."

Read the full press release here