Police pay millions to mobile companies
Many questions are being asked about the police investigation into the actions of Damien Green. But here, I suggest, is a new one.
We know the police took his mobile phone. They may well have checked who he's been calling, and who's been calling him. But if they asked his mobile network for help with this, how much are they having to pay for that assistance?
I ask this because by using the Freedom of Information Act the BBC has discovered that last year the police had to pay mobile phone companies over eight million pounds for access to data which could benefit criminal investigations.
The Telecommunications UK Fraud Forum says that the moblle companies have to take on trained experts to help the police in this way, and that needs funding.
However the Tory MP David Davis says: "Companies should have a sense of civic responsibility, and in my view, that means this sort of material should be provided free."
The full details of the replies to the BBC's FOI requests, including a breakdown of how much has paid to the telecoms companies by each police force, are on the Politics Show website.
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Aren't the Telecomms companies legally obliged to provide such information under RIPA?
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Rover - Yes, they are obliged, as are ISPs and other agencies who handle this sort of data. But since they are all private companies the bottom line is all important, so the public purse has to foot the bill - as ever, it seems these days. Civic responsibility - now there's an old style concept. They are not very quick either. Usually a month or more for lower end enquiries. Just wait until everything goes via internet protocols. Some good reports on the Information Commissioner's website.
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This an open invitaion to a big can of worms, this is spying on the person.
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As long as the police have to pay, it means they have to think carefully about when they request the information. If the companies could not charge, the police would inundate them with requests, costs would go up (which consumers would pay for) and response times would get worse.
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"this is spying on the person"
Indeed, which is what RIPA is all about: investigatory powers, and specifically the regulation of those powers.
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David Davies is wrong because by making the police pay for information, they are more likely to only ask for it when it is relevant, rather than as a matter of course whether justified or not. However, it is proper for the charges levied to be directly related to the actual costs of providing the information.
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I would agree that this is just right. Even with eyeing civic responsibility, this is a control measure in line with right to privacy which is way more a priority.
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