Mass surveillance

Judge orders MI5 not to delete databanks before end of surveillance trial

MI5 has been ordered by a senior judge not to delete vast databanks of personal information it is storing pending the outcome of a trial over the legality of its surveillance procedures.

Lord Justice Singh, the president of the investigatory powers tribunal (IPT), delivered a sharp rebuke to lawyers for MI5 who questioned the feasibility of his legal directive.

“This is an order of a judicial tribunal,” Singh said. “If it turns out the respondents [MI5] have breached the orders of the tribunal that will have consequences.”

The IPT hears complaints about the operation of the intelligence services.

The sharp exchange between the judge and MI5’s lawyers came at the end of an opening hearing into a joint-claim by the human rights groups Liberty and Privacy International. Both have called for interception warrants obtained unlawfully by MI5 to be quashed.