Revealed: immigration officers allowed to hack phones

Source: The Guardian, 13/04/2016

Revealed: immigration officers allowed to hack phones
10 April 2016 – The Guardian
Home Office granted powers to snoop on detention centre refugees three
years ago by amendment to 20-year-old Police Act
Immigration officials have been permitted to hack the phones of
refugees and asylum seekers, including rape and torture victims, for
the past three years.
The revelation has sparked outrage among civil rights groups and
campaigners for rape victims, who said that it was distressing that
the British government had rolled out powers that could target some of
the most vulnerable individuals in society.
The Home Office confirmed to the Observer that since 2013 immigration
officials have been granted the power to "property interference,
including interference with equipment", which can include planting a
listening device in a home, car or detention centre, as well as
hacking into phones or computers. Critics fear the powers could
undermine lawyer-client confidentiality in sensitive immigration and
asylum cases.
The power was authorised through an amendment to the Police Act 1997,
prompting campaigners to warn that intrusive technological powers are
being regulated by outdated legislation.
Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman,
said: "For far too long, vague and outdated legislation has been
exploited to extend the Home Office`s powers. No parliamentarian would
have ever foreseen immigration officers having the powers to hack into
our smartphones and computers of potentially quite vulnerable people."
Silkie Carlo, of the rights group Liberty, said: "The entirely new
power of routine communication interception at removal centres is a
blatantly discriminatory move."
Research has found that torture victims have been held in immigration
detention centres, and campaigners cite statistics suggesting that up
to 70% of women in centres like Yarl`s Wood in Bedfordshire are rape
survivors.
People have the right to speak privately and disclose sensitive
information about rape, torture and domestic violence
Cristal Amiss, Black Women`s Rape Action Project
Cristal Amiss, of the Black Women`s Rape Action Project, said: "These
powers are an outrage. People in detention have the right to
confidentiality, to speak privately to their lawyer and disclose often
very sensitive information such as details of rape, torture, domestic
violence and alleged abuse by officials. They have to be able to share
private information without their phones being hacked."
A Home Office briefing document detailing the hacking powers available
to immigration officers claims the aim "is to ensure that immigration
officers can deploy a full range of investigative techniques to deal
effectively with all immigration crime".
A Home Office official confirmed that "equipment interference" had
been used to prevent serious crime, including disrupting the supply of
counterfeit travel documents, which could have been used to facilitate
the smuggling of illegal migrants. They did not address whether the
powers had been used to ascertain the veracity of asylum claims.
"They [immigration officers] may only use the power to investigate and
prevent serious crime which relates to an immigration or nationality
offence, and have done so since 2013," said a statement from the
immigration minister, James Brokenshire.
The revelation coincides with fresh concern over the latest version of
the "snooper`s charter", which will give the police powers to access
everyone`s web browsing histories and hack into phones. The extension
of police powers is contained in the investigatory powers bill,
designed to provide the world`s first comprehensive legal framework
for state surveillance powers. This also dates from the 1997 Police
Act, but the Home Office has tried to dampen disquiet by insisting
such powers would only be used in "exceptional circumstances",
extending the use of remote computer hacking from the security
services to the police – predominantly the National Crime Agency – in
cases involving a "threat to life", missing persons or cases that risk
"damage to somebody`s mental health".
The bill has met severe criticism from three parliamentary committees,
and surveillance campaigners are challenging MPs to improve safety and
confidentiality measures before it is rushed into law. Carmichael
said: "Parliament must be given the time it needs to properly
scrutinise and improve it."
Carlo said: "The bill contains the flimsiest of safeguards and takes
state hacking to an unprecedented and dangerous new level. It allows
for practically limitless bulk hacking against the devices of
individuals, groups or even entire nations."
Liberty warns that powers to hack millions of devices en masse remain
in the bill, despite recommendations from parliament`s intelligence
and security committee that they be removed. Elsewhere, the security
services will still be able to examine the browsing histories of the
entire population, and the communications of MPs, journalists and
lawyers open to access by intelligence agencies.