Flickr/EFF photos. Creative commons.
The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee has today published its analysis of the UK Home Office’s Investigatory Powers Bill – the new successor to RIPA and the Snooper’s Charter. Although they don’t comment on the non-technical decisions in the bill, to be considered by another committee, they raise a number of concerns.
Select committees can be rather cautious bodies, partly because they always seek cross-party agreement. When on an issue like this, they agree unanimously, that should be a message for government. When on an issue like this, they agree unanimously, that should be a message for government. In their summary, they refer to ‘widespread doubts’ about the terms used in the bill, and ‘uncertainties over the likely scope and costs’. As they say, ‘Such uncertainty is unhelpful to businesses trying to compete in a global communications market and risks undermining our strongly performing tech sector.’
