The Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Act 2024 received Royal Assent on 25 April 2024.
According to the government, the Act will enhance protections against terrorism and child sexual abuse by ensuring that “the intelligence services and law enforcement have the powers they need to keep pace with a range of evolving threats”.
What are the immediate changes?
The following changes are now being implemented:
- Changes to the bulk personal dataset regime, to improve the intelligence agencies’ ability to respond with greater agility and speed to existing and emerging threats to national security.
- Enhancing the existing safeguards to support the Investigatory Powers Commissioner in carrying out oversight of public authorities’ use of investigatory powers.
- Modifying the notice regimes to ensure the efficacy of the existing powers in the context of new technologies and the commercial structures of a modern digital economy. This includes ensuring that exceptional lawful access is maintained where necessary and proportionate for public safety, while also protecting the privacy of citizens and the ability of companies to develop cutting-edge technologies.
- Increasing the resilience of the warrant authorisation processes to allow greater operational agility for the intelligence agencies and the National Crime Agency. This will help to ensure they can always get lawful access to information in a timely way so that they can respond to the most serious national security and organised crime threats.
- Updating the conditions for the use of Internet Connection Records to ensure that these can be used effectively to target the most serious types of criminal activity and national security threats without a corresponding increase in levels of intrusion, underpinned by a robust independent oversight regime.
How can we help?
We have over 30 years’ experience of criminal defence work. By staying on top of changes in legislation and case law, we can give our clients the best possible advice. If you would like to discuss any aspect of your case, please contact Tarsem Salhan on 0121 605 6000 or at tsalhan@salhan.co.uk.
