INTERCEPTION OF COMMUNICATIONS Pursuant to Schedule 7 to the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 [February 2017] DRAFT Code of Practice © Crown copyright 2017 This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open- government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email:
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[email protected] Interception of Communications DRAFT Code of Practice Contents 1. Introduction 5 2. Definitions 6 What is interception? 6 What is a communications service provider? 6 What is secondary data? 7 What is meant by the content of a communication? 8 Postal Content 9 What are overseas-related communications? 9 3. Unlawful interception – criminal and civil offences 10 4. Warranted interception – general rules 12 Types of warrants 12 The intercepting authorities 13 Necessity and proportionality 14 Trade Unions 16 5. Targeted warrants 17 Subject-matter of targeted warrants 17 Targeted thematic warrants 19 Specificity of thematic warrants 20 Authorisation of thematic warrants 21 Modification of thematic warrants 21 Renewal of thematic warrants