03/02/2020 Privacy International v Secretary of State for Foreign And Commonwealth Affairs & Ors (Rev 2) [2016] UKIPTrib 15_110-CH (17 October 2016) MR. T. DE LA MARE QC, MR. B. JAFFEY and MR. D. CASHMAN (instructed by Bhatt Murphy Solicitors) appeared on behalf of the Claimant. MR. J. EADIE QC, MR. A. O'CONNOR QC and MR. R. O'BRIEN (instructed by Government Legal Department) appeared on behalf of the Respondents. MR. J. GLASSON QC (instructed by Government Legal Department) appeared as Counsel to the Tribunal. 26, 27,28,29 July 2016 ____________________ HTML VERSION OF JUDGMENT APPROVED ____________________ Crown Copyright © MR JUSTICE BURTON: 1. This is the judgment of the Tribunal, to which all Members have contributed. 2. The Claimant before the Tribunal is Privacy International, a Non- Governmental Organisation, working in the field of defending human rights at both national and international levels; they are represented by Mr. Thomas de la Mare QC, Mr. Ben Jaffey and Mr. Daniel Cashman.  The Respondents are the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs ("the Foreign Secretary") and the Secretary of State for the Home Department ("the Home Secretary"), and the three Security and Intelligence Agencies (SIAs), being GCHQ, the Security Service (MI5), and the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), for all of whom Mr. James Eadie QC, Mr. Andrew O'Connor QC, and Mr. Richard O'Brien have appeared. Mr Jonathon Glasson QC has appeared as counsel for the Tribunal, and gave particular assistance during the interlocutory period leading up to the hearing. 3. The proceedings were brought on 5th June 2015 relating to the SIAs' acquisition, use, retention, disclosure, storage and deletion of Bulk Personal Datasets ("BPDs"), whose existence was publicly acknowledged in March 2015 by the Respondents in evidence to, and then in a Report by, the Intelligence Security Committee of Parliament ("ISC").  The proceedings were amended in September 2015 to add claims in relation to the use of s.94 of the Telecommunications Act 1984 ("s.94" and "the 1984 Act") by the Home and Foreign Secretaries to give directions to Public Electronic Communications Networks ("PECNs") to transfer bulk communications data to GCHQ and MI5 ("BCD"). 4. This case concerns the acquisition and use by the SIAs of bulk data. BCD is acquired by GCHQ and MI5 under directions issued under s.94. The communications data thus collected will include the "who, when, where and how" of both telephone and internet use (as it is put in paragraph 12 below), and this may include the location of mobile and fixed line phones from which calls are made or received, and the location of computers used to access the internet. BCD does not include the content of any such communications, which may only be obtained under an interception warrant. BPD is acquired and used by GCHQ, MI5 and MI6. Such data, acquired by overt or covert means, includes considerable volumes of data about biographical details, commercial and financial activities, communications and travel, as well as communications data obtained under s.94 arrangements or by interception under a warrant. All such bulk data, both BCD and BPD, may be searched by the SIAs to discover details about persons of intelligence interest. These are important and wide ranging capabilities, which have only recently come to light. The Claimant contends that they infringe the right to private life under Article 8 of the ECHR. The Respondents contend that their use of such powers is lawful and essential for, inter alia, the protection of national security. BPD 5. BPD was explained as follows by the Respondents in their Response dated 11th April 2016 ("the April Response"):www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/format.cgi?doc=/uk/cases/UKIPTrib/2016/15_110-CH.html&query=([2016])+AND+(UKIPTrib)+AND+(15_110-CH) 2/53