British domestic spying agency acknowledges incapability to stop home-grown terror
Snooperâ„¢s charter would not have prevented Woolwich attack, MI5 says.
A Tory-backed plan to allow Britain’s spying agencies unprecedented access to internet communications and phone calls would not have prevented the recent London attack, domestic spying apparatus MI5 admits.
MI5 officers indicated that the controversial Communications Data Bill, known as the Å“snooperâ„¢s charter”, would not have helped prevent last Wednesdayâ„¢s attack, in which British soldier Lee Rigby was hacked to death by the knife-wielding attackers in Woolwich, southeast London.
Senior security sources also added that the recent attempts to cite Woolwich murder as a reason to push forward with the draft bill was a Å“cheap argument”.
The statements could be seen as a rebuke to the British Home Secretary, Theresa May, who recently described the Communications Data Bill as Å“essential”, granting spying agencies the capacity to access peopleâ„¢s online activities.
The so-called ËœSnooperâ„¢s Charterâ„¢ would have given agencies, including police and spying services, access to information and data collection by Internet service providers, including details of individuals’ web browsing history, social media messages and internet gaming, storing them all for 12 months.
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This article originally appeared on: Press TV