Scottish police snoop on phone records

Category: Mobile Phone Investigations

13 August, 2012

Police in Scotland have made requests for electronic and mobile phone evidence 85,000 times in the last five years.

According to the Daily Record, Scottish police have accessed email and phone records thousands of times since 2007, with some areas experiencing one data request for every 15 people.

The ability to see call and text records, but not the content, was brought in with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000 and police do not need the permission of the individual to access this information.

Requests for more specific data and bugs needs to be signed off by the chief surveillance commissioner but this type of electronic evidence can be vital to police investigations and prosecutions.

However, some civil liberties campaigners are concerned that the laws are being misused, with Nick Pickles, director of privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, saying: "Clearly, the police need to be able to access sensitive communications data but it’s not clear that it’s only being used for serious crimes."

In England and Wales similar laws to snoop on emails and phone calls are under review, with Nick Clegg stressing that legislation will face intense and lengthy scrutiny.

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