UK FEDS – Every 120 seconds a Police Officer is reading someone’s messages

Police officers in the UK ask for permission to monitor use of emails, text messages and internet searches once every two minutes, a new report has disclosed. Fewer than one in 10 requests are turned down by senior officers, although the rate of refusal varies widely. Wowzers, these police really love tailing the citizens. It really looks like the profiling in London has got a massive massive increase. These pre-crime procedures are a breach of our privacy. Reports find that forces made 733,237 requests  between 2012 and 2014. A total of 679,073 requests were granted ranted internally and 54,164 were rejected. The Metropolitan Police made by far the most requests for data, with 177,287 in three years, followed by West Midlands Police (99,444) and Police Scotland (62,075). We are repeatedly told communications data plays a significant role in modern policing, yet the report™s findings pose serious questions about the internal approval process which differs from force to force. If greater access to our communications is to be granted, increased transparency and independent judicial approval should be introduced as standard.