GCHQ “Tempora” and the Big Brother Watch ruling
Verified: Documented in primary records or confirmed by reputable inquiry/reporting.
On 21 June 2013 the Guardian reported, citing documents from Edward Snowden, that GCHQ had tapped fibre-optic cables under a programme codenamed Tempora and could store the data for up to 30 days. In 2021 the European Court of Human Rights Grand Chamber ruled in Big Brother Watch v UK that the UK’s bulk interception regime and its communications-data regime violated Article 8 of the Convention.
Documented
The ruling is a public Court record: unanimous Article 8 violations, but also a finding that bulk interception is not in itself unlawful, and 12–5 no violation over obtaining material from foreign governments. The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 has since replaced RIPA 2000.
Claimed, disputed or not established
The programme figures (600 million “telephone events” a day, 200+ cables tapped, 46 processed at once, by 2012) come from leaked documents as reported by the Guardian. This page does not rely on any official confirmation of them.
Sources (opened in a new tab)
- The Guardian: GCHQ taps fibre-optic cables (21 Jun 2013) ↗http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/jun/21/gchq-cables-secret-world-communications-nsa
- ECtHR press summary: Big Brother Watch v UK, Grand Chamber (25 May 2021) ↗https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/app/conversion/pdf/?filename=Grand+Chamber+judgment+Big+Brother+Watch+and+Others+v.+the+United+Kingdom+-+UK+surveillance+regime%3A+some+aspects+contrary+to+the+Convention+.pdf&id=003-7028496-9484349&library=ECHR
Connected
- Section: United Kingdom, also United States
- Agencies: GCHQ, NSA
- Vault documents: Big Brother Watch and Others v United Kingdom: Grand Chamber press summary ↗
- Case board · Timeline (2013) · Document vault