FIPR News Release - FOR IMMEDIATE USE 13/7/2000 =============================================== Second and final day of the House of Lords Report Stage debate on the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill: A joint Conservative and Liberal Democrat amendment to limit Government-Access-to-Key powers in the RIP Bill was defeated in the House of Lords on Thursday by 119 votes to 120. The amendment would have required Secretary of State authorisation on each occasion a key (rather than plaintext) was demanded, thus effectively checking the volume of access requests. Opposition amendments REJECTED: =============================== *) the requirement to provide a person served with a decryption notice, with the material he is supposed to decrypt (so that he may supply plaintext instead of a key) *) a procedure allowing a person served with a decryption notice to demonstrate the correspondence between plaintext and ciphertext to a trusted third party - thus obviating the need to surrender a key (if a session key in unavailable) *) Curbs on the "tipping-off" offence - which can impose a lifetime prohibition on revealing the existence of a decryption notice, with a penalty of five years imprisonment *) clarification that the "economic well-being" clauses can only apply to persons outside the United Kingdom. The government implicitly conceded that they might apply to persons inside the United Kingdom in unspecified circumstances. *) explicit protections for legally privileged material *) deletion of the "large number of persons in pursuit of a common purpose" limb of the definition of the "serious crime" purpose for interception. Government concessions: ======================= *) The prosecution must now show that a person "knowingly" failed to comply with a decryption notice (the "mens rea" test) *) Notices demanding keys must be notified within seven days to the Surveillance Commissioner *) Seized keys to material obtained by means other than interception will now get the same level of protection (classification 'SECRET') - the government stated this was an "omission" from the draft Code of Practice *) a loophole will be closed in the Tribunal procedure which would have prevented an Appeal against breaches of the Human Rights Act except in cases where decryption *was* authorised by the Secretary of State *) the authority serving a decryption notice must "take into account" the extent and nature of *other* information protected by a key, before demanding access to that key *) Notices demanding keys (rather than plaintext) from the police, Customs & Excise, or the armed forces, must now be authorised at the ranks of Chief Constable, Commissioner, and brigadier respectively - - - - - - The Bill now goes to its Third Reading in the Lords on Wednesday. If government chooses not to attempt to reverse Wednesday's defeat on establishing a statutory Technical Approvals Board (which would vet interception requirements imposed on ISPs), then the Bill only needs to return to the Commons for approval and then Royal Assent to become law. Caspar Bowden, director of Internet policy think-tank FIPR commented: "An unprecedented wave of public opprobrium has won significant concessions. However if the UK becomes the only G7 economy with a GAK law, companies and their customers will think long and hard before conducting secure e-commerce in this country. There is still time to pause and reflect before enacting legislation that may have irreversible consequences" Notes for editors ----------------- 1. FIPR is an independent non-profit organisation that studies the interaction between information technology and society, with special reference to the Internet; we do not (directly or indirectly) represent the interests of any trade-group. Our goal is to identify technical developments with significant social impact, commission research into public policy alternatives, and promote public understanding and dialogue between technologists and policy-makers in the UK and Europe. The Board of Trustees and Advisory Council (http://www.fipr.org/trac.html) comprise some of the leading experts in the UK. -- Caspar Bowden Tel: +44(0)20 7354 2333 Director, Foundation for Information Policy Research RIP Information Centre at: www.fipr.org/rip#media