Michael Ellis MP: To fight paedophiles, criminals and terrorists, we need a Communications Data Bill

Michael Ellis is MP for Northampton North. Follow Michael on Twitter.

An article this week on ConHome from Emma Carr of Big Brother Watch asserted that the Communications Data Bill was ‘ill thought out legislation’. As a member of the cross-party Joint Committee which spent almost six months scrutinising the Draft Bill – and which unanimously agreed the need for updated legislation – I strongly disagree.

This legislation is not, as Emma Carr and others have suggested, about "snooping" on the public. The use of communication records – the "who", "when" and "where" of a communication, but not the actual content of them – forms part of almost every serious organised crime investigation. It is a crucial tool in the fight against paedophiles, terrorists and other serious criminals.

The fact is, however, that the increasing use of smartphones and the internet is eroding this capability. As criminals adapt to a digital age, our law enforcement agencies must keep up – and they must have the tools they need to respond and keep us safe in these dangerous times. The formal requests they make nowadays to mobile and internet service providers for details about suspects’ communications are increasingly met with reports that they have growing gaps in their records. The details of communications made via the internet simply aren’t retained in a way which allows connections to be matched easily. A call or text message sent by a mobile network can be tracked, but if the same call or message is sent by a 3G network or WiFi, this information simply isn't available readily – if at all.

Michael Ellis MP: We need new legislation to prevent dangerous people from exploiting new technologies — and quick

Michael Ellis is the Member of Parliament for Northampton North.  Follow Michael on Twitter.

The joint committee scrutinising the draft Communications Data Bill has reported back. The issues the bill grapples with – how some of the most dangerous people in our world are exploiting new and emerging technologies to perpetrate terrible crimes – are vital. National security underwrites everything else a government does and it is of the first importance. The committee – which included MPs and peers from all three main parties, and of which I was a member – agrees with the Government on the case for new legislation in this area to protect the public and to strengthen the hand of the people who keep us safe. The Home Office has accepted the substance of all the committee’s recommendations. Now we need to get on with making this bill law and giving the police and security services the tools they need to do their jobs.

There is a clear and pressing need for legislation in this area now. As technology changes so does the behaviour of the criminals who exploit it. Laws which were framed for another time become outmoded and the police and security agencies whose job it is to protect us all find themselves on the back foot.

Communications data has played a role in every major Security Service counter-terrorism operation and in the vast majority of serious organised crime investigations in recent years.  Whereas in 2006 the police and Security Service had access to 90 per cent of communications data in this country, technological advances like Skype and Blackberry Messenger now mean they are able to access just 75 per cent of that data.