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UK officials going snoop crazy
Requests to spy hit half a million

By Nick Heath

Published: Wednesday 23 July 2008

Officials made more than 500,000 requests to snoop on private phone and internet information in the UK last year.

More than 1,400 requests per day were made to spy on phone call records and web traffic last year, up on the average of less than 350,000 per year over the previous two years.

Public bodies made 519,260 requests to phone and internet service providers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, according to a report by the interception of communications commissioner Sir Paul Kennedy.

Police and security services made the majority of the requests for billing information and other details but 1,707 of them came from local councils.

Kennedy said local authorities could make greater use of communications data to investigate crime.

But a separate report by the chief surveillance commissioner, Sir Christopher Rose, criticises techniques used by local authorities for misunderstanding the concept of proportionality.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith welcomed the reports and said these surveillance powers helped to protect the public.