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See other news storiesHome Secretary: 'Communications data is vital'
15 October 2008
The ability to intercept and obtain communications data is vital to fighting terrorism and combating serious crime, stated Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith.
In a speech given to the Institute for Public Policy Research Commission about national security, the Home Secretary said: 'Our ability to intercept communications and obtain communications data is vital to fighting terrorism and combating serious crime, including child sex abuse, murder and drugs trafficking. Communications Data – that is, data about calls, such as the location and identity of the caller, not the content of the calls themselves – is used as important evidence in 95 per cent of serious crime cases and in almost all Security Service operations since 2004.'
She added: 'But the communications revolution has been rapid in this country and the way in which we intercept communications and collect communications data needs to change too.'
Read the full text of the Home Secretary’s speech on 15 October 2008
The Home Office will be launching a public consultation early next year on ways to modernise communications data. Further details will be posted on this website.
Further information about the public consultation next year
