Security News > 2020 > December > UK Home Office chucks US firm Leidos £30m for help snooping on comms data

The UK's Home Office has handed a £30m contract to engineering and IT outfit Leidos to help government agencies access and analyse communications data for combatting terrorism and organised crime.

The Home Office's National Communications Data Service launched the Agile Data Retention and Disclosure Services last year with a prior information notice to the market.

"Communications data has been shown to be a particularly rich and reliable source of data that can be used by investigators to develop actionable intelligence and/or build a compelling evidential case to bring offenders to justice," the notice said.

"Internet communications are constantly and rapidly changing, and it is frequently the case that essential data is only either partially available, or fragmented, across service providers in the UK and overseas," the notice continued.

The main legal mechanism giving government agencies access to communications data is the controversial Investigatory Powers Act 2016, which offers them the option of targeted and bulk interception and collection of communications data.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2020/12/17/home_office_leidos_30m/