David Davis MP: This data law has nothing to do with catching terrorists – and everything to do with a lust for power


David Davis MP has written an article in the Daily Mail severely criticising the Government’s Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Bill (DRIP).  In the article he says that:

“The Government has engineered a ‘theatrical emergency’ – in this case terrorism and hidden paedophile rings – to ram the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Bill through Parliament without proper debate”.

He is also critical of the way that the government has accepted the claims of the security without critical assessment of their validity and on the concessions the Government has made to with regards to scrutiny of the powers he said:

“The Government has sprinkled some concessions throughout its announcement to sweeten the pill: an acknowledgement that the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act is out of date; it will publish annual transparency reports; and a Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board will try to balance our security requirements with our privacy rights

But these concessions are vague, and will inevitably be used to extend the powers beyond their current remit. The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board will either be toothless or, like the current Intelligence and Security Committee, a Government rubber-stamp.