UK Parl. gives immunity to spies

Iran Press TV

Sat May 16, 2015 1:34PM

UK parliament has passed a new legislation giving the intelligence officers and police immunity from prosecution for hacking into computers, laptos and mobile phones.

The unnoticed rewriting of a key clause of the Computer Misuse Act has exempted law enforcement officials from the prohibition on breaking into other people's laptops, databases, mobile phones or digital systems. It came into force in May.

The amended clause 10, entitled somewhat misleadingly "Savings", is designed to prevent officers from committing a crime when they remotely access computers of suspected criminals. It is not known what category of offences are covered.

The act is primarily deployed to provide legal cover for domestic investigations. It is thought that individual warrants are not being obtained to justify each inquiry.

In February, the Home Office did publish a "draft equipment interference code of practice" which explained how law enforcement officials could track down serious criminals and terrorists by hacking into their computers.

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