Re:Details of UK website visits 'to be stored for year'
by toyg on Wednesday November 04, 2015 @11:57AM
(#10507865)
Well, in this case the proposed act will basically supersede the Human Rights Act, by excluding authorities from respecting its article 8 ("Right to Privacy"), under which they've been repeatedly challenged (and defeated) since Snowden's revelations. Which is really a change in law, not a clarification.
So yeah, what they really need is a change, because current law is very clear that what they do is illegal.
Re:Details of UK website visits 'to be stored for year'
by pjc50 on Wednesday November 04, 2015 @02:28PM
(#10508947)
No, it doesn't (and can't) supercede the HRA; there is actually no mechanism in UK law for doing that other than explicit repeal (Factortame principle).
And article 8 has an ill-specified "national security" exemption. http://ukhumanrightsblog.com/incorporated-rights/articles-in...
Just strictly on this point, sometimes bills (or parts of bills) are introduced to clarify existing law. It may be a matter of subtle semantics, but this is often what is meant when it is claimed that a bill will not change the law.