By IRNA,
London : Civil rights campaigners Monday accused local authorities in the UK of abusing spying powers and called for a change in the law.
The accusation came after the Local Government Association warned councils that they should stop using the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act to detect “trivial matters” such as dog-fouling and litter offences.
In a letter to all local authorities, the association’s chairman Sir Simon Milton also advised councils to carry out an annual review to let the public know how they were using their powers and to appoint a scrutiny committee.
“I’m concerned that if those powers are seen to be misused then we could lose them altogether, so really I’m asking councils to do a stock check to make sure they can satisfy themselves that they are acting in a proportionate and necessary way,” Milton told the BBC.
The criticism flows a wave of publicity about the “over-zealous” use of the act. A survey by the Press Association in April found that a number of councils had used the act to monitor offences never intended to be covered by the new powers.
Home Office guidelines say that the act allows “the interception of communication, carrying out of surveillance and the use of covert human intelligence sources” to help crime, including terrorism.
Liberty civil rights group went further in criticizing the abuse, saying that self-restraint by council was only useful as a very first step.
“Ultimately we need a change in the law to ensure that judges are more involved in authorising the more intrusive powers and to make sure that the powers are clear and proportionate and aimed only at serious crime,” Liberty’s director Shami Chakrabarti said.
The opposition Conservatives also warned that the public will be alarmed about the way the councils were using such strong powers under the guise of counter-terrorism.
“They must be as tightly controlled as if they were being used by the police or security services,” shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve, said.