Revealed: How MI5 and MI6 used powers to stop terror attacks on British soil and track down jihadists. 

Follow @Mazana17

Theresa May has said that the mass collection of private data by the security services is "vital" for public safety after an official review found it is has been repeatedly used to stop terrorist attacks in Britain.

David Anderson, the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, revealed that MI6 used "bulk data" to identify terror suspects who posed a threat to the UK in the wake of the attacks in Paris and Brussels.

Theresa May has said new security powers are are vital for Britain's safety.

He highlighted that he "sheer vivid range" of case studies provided to him by the security services, including identifying Isil extremists in the UK, stopping suspected terrorists from entering Britain and identifying foreign spies.
Other uses of bulk data include protecting children from abuse, rescuing hostages in Afghanistan and defending companies from cyber attacks.

He also said that the security services need new powers to hack into people's phones and computers to identify those who pose a threat to Britain because of increasing levels of encryption used by US technology giants.
The security services will be able to collect "bulk" data under the Investigatory Powers Bill, which is currently going through Parliament.
It will enable them view details of millions of communications, including when they are sent and who people communicate with, although they will be unable to read the content of their messages.

Armed police outside Downing Street earlier this year.

Mrs May said: "I am grateful to David Anderson for this report, which follows a detailed and thorough review in which the Government has provided unfettered and unprecedented access to the most sensitive information about our Security and Intelligence Agencies’ capabilities.   “Mr Anderson’s report demonstrates how the bulk powers contained in the Investigatory Powers Bill are of crucial importance to our security and intelligence agencies.

"These powers often provide the only means by which our Agencies are able to protect the British public from the most serious threats that we face.
"It is vital that we retain them, while ensuring their use is subject to robust safeguards and world-leading
oversight which are enshrined in the IP Bill.”

In his report Mr Anderson said that bulk data collection powers are of "vital utility" to the security services.  He said that the powers had been used earlier this year by MI6, MI5 and GCHQ "to identify individuals who posed a threat to the UK in the wake of the Paris and Brussels attacks.
"The review team was given information which demonstrated that there was no viable alternative method by which these individuals could have been identified," he said.

 

In 2014 MI6 cross-checked a leak of 20,000 Isil registration papers with information from bulk data collection to identify Isil supporters in the UK.
"It was only when this information was combined with information obtained from BPDs that MI6 was able positively to identify a number of individuals on the list who posed a threat to national security," Mr Anderson said.
The review also found that the powers had been used to identify spies from foreign governments. It says: "In 2013, BPDs were used to identify employees of an intelligence service potentially hostile to the UK.
"The Review team was given information which demonstrated that these identifications could not have made without the use of BPDs. The information was shared with intelligence partners. "

  

 For more News and Entertainments, follow Us at our Social Network :

Follow @Mazana17