Justify GCHQ mass surveillance, European court tells ministers
Source: The Guardian
Ministers have been ordered to justify GCHQ's mass surveillance programmes by judges at the European court of human rights who have fast-tracked a case brought by privacy and human rights campaigners.
The court in Strasbourg has told the government to provide submissions by the beginning of May about whether GCHQ's spying activities could be a violation of the right to privacy under article 8 of the European convention.
Marking the case a priority, campaigners are hopeful the court will bring a ruling before the end of the year.
The case was brought last September by Big Brother Watch, the Open Rights Group and English PEN, along with the German internet activist Constanze Kurz.
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/24/justify-gchq-mass-surveillance-european-court-human-rights
The European Court of Human Rights has concluded its preliminary investigation and has decided to give this matter top priority.
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Did anyone go to the Guardian link? Get a load of that security building! And I thought Keith Alexander was a trekky.
"It followed the Guardian's revelations about GCHQ's data-trawling techniques which were detailed in papers leaked by the whistleblower Edward Snowden. The groups claim that by collecting data on millions of people not under any suspicion GCHQ has infringed the privacy of British and European citizens."
This is where I give my obligatory thanks to Ed, Glenn and Laura. 