Electronic surveillance

Exclusive: Edward Snowden leaks reveal secret Scottish spy system

SECRET REPORTS leaked by U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden have revealed how UK mass surveillance of phone and internet activity was accessed by Scottish police forces.

The documents confirm that a little-known policing body called the Scottish Recording Centre (SRC) was given access to information logs that includes millions of communications data including phone activity, internet histories, and social media behaviour on Facebook. 

The confirmation that UK state spy agency GCHQ ran a specific programmed, called “MILKWHITE”, to share data with devolved policing and tax authorities is the first Snowden leak to directly implicate Scottish authorities in the controversial policy of ‘bulk data’ collection.

American news site The Intercept, which has access to the Snowden files, explained MILKWHITE gave “an obscure Scotland-based surveillance unit” access to “huge troves of metadata” from UK state surveillance.