UK surveillance laws need total overhaul, says landmark report

Britain’s laws governing the intelligence agencies and mass surveillance require a total overhaul to make them more transparent, comprehensible and up to date, the intelligence and security committee of parliament (ISC) has said in a landmark report prompted by the revelations of Edward Snowden, the former US National Security Agency contractor.

The 18-month inquiry finds that existing laws are not being broken by the agencies and insists the bulk collection of data by the government does not amount to mass surveillance or a threat to individual privacy. But it also says the legal framework is unnecessarily complicated and -- crucially -- almost impenetrable. The current laws could be construed as providing the agencies with a “blank cheque to carry out whatever actives they deem necessary”, it says.