Hunton Andrews Kurth writes:
On May 25, 2021, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights handed down its judgement in the case of Big Brother Watch and Others v. the United Kingdom, determining that the former surveillance regime in the UK violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”), i.e., the right to respect for private and family life.
The regime, which was created under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (“RIPA”) but has since been replaced by the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (“IPA”), was found to violate Article 8 with respect to the rules permitting bulk interception and the obtaining of communications data from communication service providers. The Grand Chamber also determined that the surveillance regime violated freedom of expression under Article 10 of the ECHR in both of these respects.
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