Security News > 2020 > April > Why should the UK pensions watchdog be able to spy on your internet activities? Same reason as the Environment Agency and many more

In a memorandum [PDF] first spotted by The Guardian, the British government is asking that five more public authorities be added to the list of bodies that can access data scooped up under the nation's mass-surveillance laws: the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, the Environment Agency, the Insolvency Service, the UK National Authority for Counter Eavesdropping, and the Pensions Regulator.

The Environment Agency investigates "Over 40,000 suspected offences each year," the memo stated.

UKNACE, a little known agency that we have taken a look at in the past, is home of the real-life Qs, and one of its jobs is to detect attempts to eavesdrop on UK government offices.

Taken together, the requests reflect exactly what critics of the Investigatory Powers Act feared would happen: that a once-shocking power that was granted on the back of terrorism fears is being slowly extended to even the most obscure government agency for no reason other that it will make bureaucrats' lives easier.

None of the agencies would be required to apply for warrants to access people's internet connection data, and they would be added to another 50-plus agencies that already have access, including the Food Standards Agency, Gambling Commission, and NHS Business Services Authority.

News URL

https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/04/23/uk_snoopers_charter_sequel/