Investigatory Powers Act 2016

150 Safeguards relating to retention and disclosure of material U.K.

(1) The Secretary of State must ensure, in relation to every bulk interception warrant, that arrangements are in force for securing—

(a) that the requirements of subsections (2) and (5) are met in relation to the material obtained under the warrant, and

(b) that the requirements of section 152 are met in relation to the intercepted content or secondary data obtained under the warrant.

This is subject to subsection (8).

(2) The requirements of this subsection are met in relation to the material obtained under a warrant if each of the following is limited to the minimum that is necessary for the authorised purposes (see subsection (3))—

(a) the number of persons to whom any of the material is disclosed or otherwise made available;

(b) the extent to which any of the material is disclosed or otherwise made available;

(c) the extent to which any of the material is copied;

(d) the number of copies that are made.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2) something is necessary for the authorised purposes if, and only if—

(a) it is, or is likely to become, necessary in the interests of national security or on any other grounds falling within section 138(2),

(b) it is necessary for facilitating the carrying out of any functions under this Act of the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers or the head of the intelligence service to whom the warrant is or was addressed,

(c) it is necessary for facilitating the carrying out of any functions of the Judicial Commissioners or the Investigatory Powers Tribunal under or in relation to this Act,

(d) it is necessary to ensure that a person (“P”) who is conducting a criminal prosecution has the information P needs to determine what is required of P by P's duty to secure the fairness of the prosecution, or

(e) it is necessary for the performance of any duty imposed on any person by the Public Records Act 1958 or the Public Records Act (Northern Ireland) 1923.

(4) The arrangements for the time being in force under this section for securing that the requirements of subsection (2) are met in relation to the material obtained under the warrant must include arrangements for securing that every copy made of any of that material is stored, for so long as it is retained, in a secure manner.

(5) The requirements of this subsection are met in relation to the material obtained under a warrant if every copy made of any of that material (if not destroyed earlier) is destroyed as soon as there are no longer any relevant grounds for retaining it (see subsection (6)).

(6) For the purposes of subsection (5), there are no longer any relevant grounds for retaining a copy of any material if, and only if—

(a) its retention is not necessary, or not likely to become necessary, in the interests of national security or on any other grounds falling within section 138(2), and

(b) its retention is not necessary for any of the purposes mentioned in paragraphs (b) to (e) of subsection (3) above.

(7) Subsection (8) applies if—

(a) any material obtained under the warrant has been handed over to any overseas authorities, or

(b) a copy of any such material has been given to any overseas authorities.

(8) To the extent that the requirements of subsections (2) and (5) and section 152 relate to any of the material mentioned in subsection (7)(a), or to the copy mentioned in subsection (7)(b), the arrangements made for the purposes of this section are not required to secure that those requirements are met (see instead section 151).

(9) In this section—

• “copy”, in relation to material obtained under a warrant, means any of the following (whether or not in documentary form)—

  (a)

  any copy, extract or summary of the material which identifies the material as having been obtained under the warrant, and

  (b)

  any record which—

  (i)

  refers to any interception or to the obtaining of any material, and

  (ii)

  is a record of the identities of the persons to or by whom the material was sent, or to whom the material relates,

  and “copied” is to be read accordingly;

• “overseas authorities” means authorities of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom.

Commencement Information

I1 S. 150 in force at 31.5.2018 by S.I. 2018/652, reg. 5(h) (with reg. 15(3)(a))