Security services and other public bodies carry out up to 1000 bugging operations every day in Britain.

The latest report from the Interception of Communications Commissioner has shown that security services and other public bodies carry out up to 1000 bugging operations in Britain every day.

Written by Sir Paul Kennedy, a former Lord Justice of Appeal who took over as the spy watchdog in April 2006, the report covers bugging operations over a period of 264 days in 2006, during which time an average of 960 new applications for interception were made each day.

A total of 653 public bodies can lawfully request personal communications data. They include every police force and prison and 474 local authorities as well as the security and intelligence agencies. A total of 253,557 requests for such information were made in the last nine months of 2006, the latest figures available reveal.

Bugging is usually carried out by MI5, MI6, GCHQ and the police and most people are targeted on suspicion of terrorism or serious crime.

Senior council officers however are also given the power to authorise surveillance in order to catch fly-tippers, benefit fraudsters and rogue traders. In the nine months to the end of 2006, 122 councils sought to obtain private communications in more than 1,600 cases.

Communications data has provided crucial evidence which has led to the arrest and conviction of kidnappers, rapists and paedophiles, helped prevent murders and gather intelligence on terrorism at home and abroad, the report stated. 

On allowing intercept evidence to be used in court, Sir Paul said: “At present, I am firmly of the opinion that the benefits of any change in the law are heavily outweighed by the disadvantages. With one exception, everyone to whom I have spoken in the course of my visits seems to be of the same opinion.”

The director of public prosecutions, most MPs, some senior police officers and human rights groups want the product of intercepts to be admissible in criminal trials. They argue that such evidence would avoid the need for lengthy detention without trial.

The Conservatives and other groups including civil rights group Liberty have argued that permitting intercept evidence in court would help convict more terrorists, as well as other serious criminals.

Click here to read the report.