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Other forms of acceptable interception
Apart from interception authorised by an interception warrant, interception will not be an offence under RIPA if the interception is carried out with ‘other lawful authority’ as defined by RIPA. The Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice) (Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000 authorize the interception of communications relevant to the business of the person who controls the communication system. The interception must be for one of the following purposes:
1) Monitoring or keeping a record of communications for one of the reasons specified in the LPB Regulations, (which include investigating the unauthorized use of a telecommunication system, ascertaining the standards achieved by persons using the system in the course of their duties, ensuring regulatory compliance and detecting crime);
2) Monitoring communications for the purpose of determining whether they are communications relevant to the system controller’s business; or
3) Monitoring communications to a confidential and anonymous voice telephony counselling service.
In order to be authorized under the LBP Regulations, all reasonable efforts must have been made by the system controller to inform everyone that uses the telecommunications systems that their communications may be intercepted. So if you call a business or organisation, they may intercept the call for one of the specified purposes, but they should tell you before the call begins that the call may be monitored.
It also includes situations where one party consents, and surveillance has been authorised under Part II of RIPA - a system known as ‘participant monitoring’. This covers directed and intrusive surveillance and covert human intelligence techniques that might be used by the Police or the Intelligence services.
Stored communications may be accessed by means other than an interception warrant. They may be obtained with lawful authority through a search warrant or a production order (for instance under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984).
