Abstract

Telecommunications and computing technologies have seen radical change over the last decade. The mainstream adoption of e-mail, mobile telephones and the Web and the growing use of peer-to-peer Voice over IP telephony have significantly altered the way we communicate. Massive increases in computing and data storage capability have given states new tools for eavesdropping on these communications. The legal frameworks controlling such invasions of privacy have struggled to keep up. Using the extensive legislative framework recently developed in the UK as a case study, along with examples from other common law and European jurisdictions, this chapter describes legal measures that can be put in place to prevent the abuse of these powerful new surveillance technologies by governments.