Privacy campaigners have called on the government to clarify whether GCHQ has the technical and legal clout to spy on huge swathes of communications traffic.  Index on Censorship (IoC) said it was concerned by revelations that GCHQ has been tapping underground cables to pull out communications metadata and content. The group said the allegations meant GCHQ has been “circumventing” current UK law, and undermining human rights.

“The mass surveillance of citizens’ private communications is unacceptable – it both invades privacy and threatens freedom of expression,” said IoC CEO Kirsty Hughes.

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