PRIVACY campaigners have won a five-year legal battle against the secret service’s use of “general warrants” to search the computers and phones of millions of people.
The High Court ruled today that section 5 of the Intelligence Services Act 1994 does not permit the issuing of general warrants with property interference and some forms of computer hacking.
The ruling quashed a previous decision by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal.
The decision hinged on Common law dating back to the 18th century to demonstrate the insistence that government cannot search private premises without lawful authorisation even in cases of national security.
As general warrants are not targeted and can be applied to thousands and even millions of people, they violate individuals’ right not to have their property searched without lawful authority.