UK spying report to be published

12 March 2015 Last updated at 09:34

The power of UK security agencies to access private communications will be examined in a Parliamentary report due to be published later.

The Intelligence and Security Committee inquiry has considered the impact of such activities on people's privacy.

It has also been looking into whether current laws are "fit for purpose".

The inquiry began in 2013, after leaks by former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden about intelligence gathering by US and UK agencies.

Mr Snowden, who now lives in Russia after fleeing the US, gave the media details of extensive internet and phone surveillance.

BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said Mr Snowden's revelations raised concerns in some quarters that spies had accrued too much power in secret.

"In recent months, the intelligence agencies and politicians have fought back against this notion - pointing to the threat of international terrorism linked to Iraq and Syria as a reason for why they need access to communications and to data," he said.

Information 'haystack'

The committee's report is expected to look at whether current legislation provides the necessary powers, what the privacy implications are and whether there is sufficient oversight and accountability.

It heard evidence in public and in secret, and among those to appear publicly were:

Also due to be published later is the annual report from the judge who oversees the interception of communications by spies and the police.

It will provide details on the number of times this had occurred, and any errors or misuse.

Nigel Inkster, from the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told the BBC's Today programme that the security and intelligence agencies had "pretty adequate" powers of surveillance which should remain.

He added: "What we're talking about here is the bulk collection of civilian telecommunications, something which has actually been going on for decades without obvious detriment to civil liberties or human rights, in order for the intelligence agencies to identify very narrow and specific sets of information about threats."

But Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, called the bulk collection of data "incredibly dangerous" and "exactly what the East German Stasi would have salivated to have".

'Listening posts'

Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group, which campaigns for digital civil liberties, told BBC Radio 5 live he was concerned about the scale and impact of GCHQ's activities.

He also said that data gathering and profiling of the public was "concerning", as was "huge hacking programmes" conducted by security agencies on companies "which might turn into useful listening posts for them".

But Baroness Neville-Jones, the former chair of the UK Joint Intelligence Committee, said security staff "jettison" any surplus information, once their intelligence gathering is complete.

"You cannot actually sort through and get the clues that you need in the absence of actually collecting the information in order to do that," she said.

She also said that agencies who wanted to carry out surveillance activities had to go through a legal process to obtain a necessary warrant.

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