1,500 bugged every day by public bodies: Sarah Carr submits FoI request to Herefordshire Council

4.57.29pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 10th Aug 2009

Sarah Carr, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Hereford and South Herefordshire today responded to the findings of a national report by the Interception of Communications Commissioner, Sir Paul Kennedy, that local authorities across the United Kingdom have been abusing the Regulation of Investigative Powers Act (Ripa) to spy on local residents. Sarah Carr is calling on Herefordshire Council to release information about Herefordshire Council's use of Ripa to reassure the people of Herefordshire that they have not been the victims of unnecessary spying.

Sarah Carr said,

"The Regulation of Investigative Powers Act, which was supposed to be used for anti-terrorism and matters of national security, has been used by councils across the UK to spy on individuals with no regard for individual privacy. I am therefore calling on Herefordshire Council to release the data regarding their use of the act to local residents and have submitted a Freedom of Information request to get the facts. Sir Paul Kennedy's report found 595 'errors' where a wrong phone number or email address was supplied, leading to the wrong person being investigated. The report also showed that one in every 78 adults in the UK has been spied on in 2008 alone. This will reassure us that they have not been abusing Ripa. Local people will want to know that their private communications remain private and are not being spied on by the council."

"The Liberal Democrats are the only party committed to individual privacy and are campaigning for the immediate introduction a Freedom Bill reversing New Labour's relentless attack on civil liberties, as shown by their discredited policy on Identity Cards. The findings of the report are shocking and a further demonstration of the government's insistence on constant surveillance of our lives. We can only hope that Herefordshire's Conservative-led council has avoided using Ripa for the same sinister purposes as other councils across the country- spying on local residents. The only way for them to do this is to release the information regarding their use of Ripa to local residents without delay."