Leaked Memos Reveal GCHQ Efforts to Keep Mass Surveillance Secret

[unhappycamper]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/10/25-5



GCHQ fears a legal challenge under the Human Rights Act if evidence of its surveillance methods becomes admissable in court.

Leaked Memos Reveal GCHQ Efforts to Keep Mass Surveillance Secret
by James Ball
Published on Friday, October 25, 2013 by The Guardian

The UK intelligence agency GCHQ has repeatedly warned it fears a "damaging public debate" on the scale of its activities because it could lead to legal challenges against its mass-surveillance programs, classified internal documents reveal.

Memos contained in the cache disclosed by the US whistleblower Edward Snowden detail the agency's long fight against making intercept evidence admissible as evidence in criminal trials – a policy supported by all three major political parties, but ultimately defeated by the UK's intelligence community.

Foremost among the reasons was a desire to minimize the potential for challenges against the agency's large-scale interception programs, rather than any intrinsic threat to security, the documents show.

~snip~

A briefing memo prepared for the board of GCHQ shortly before the decision was made public revealed that one reason the agency was keen to quash the proposals was the fear that even passing references to its wide-reaching surveillance powers could start a "damaging" public debate.

[bemildred]

1. Democracy is a threat. Could they be any clearer? nt