Tri-Service
GCHQ Acted Unlawfully, Rules Tribunal
An intelligence sharing regime between UK and US security services was unlawful, a surveillance watchdog has ruled.
Judges on the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, which deals with complaints against GCHQ, MI5 and MI6, found intercepted communications were provided to Britain's listening post GCHQ under a programme that was breaching human rights laws until December.
Human rights groups Liberty, Privacy International and Amnesty, brought a legal challenge against GCHQ following disclosures made by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden about mass surveillance programmes known as Prism and Upstream.
It is the first time the tribunal has found against the intelligence agencies in its 15-year history.
GCHQ said the the judges had shown that the legal frameworks governing both the bulk interception and intelligence-sharing regime were compatible with human rights and the ruling against them was in "one small respect in relation to the historic intelligence-sharing regime".
Related topics
Join Our Newsletter
