Telecommunications Regulations 2000

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Citation and commencement

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Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice) (Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000

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STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS 2000 No. 2699

INVESTIGATORY POWERS

Made                                                                      2nd October 2000
Laid before Parliament                                            3rd October 2000
Coming into force                                                     24th October 2000

The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections
4(2) and 78(5) of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 ("the Act"),
hereby makes the following Regulations: -

Citation and commencement

1.
          These Regulations may be cited as the Telecommunications
         (Lawful Business Practice) (Interception of Communications)
          Regulations 2000 and shall come into force on 24th October 2000.

Interpretation
2.
In these Regulations -

             (a) references to a business include references to activities of a
                 government department, of any public authority or of any person
                  or office holder on whom functions are conferred by or
                  under any enactment;

(b) a reference to a communication as relevant to a business
is a reference to -

(i) a communication -

(aa) by means of which a transaction is entered into in the course
of that business, or

(bb) which otherwise relates to that business, or

(ii) a communication which otherwise takes place in the course
of the carrying on of that business;

(i) compliance with which is required or recommended by,
under or by virtue of -

(aa) any provision of the law of a member state or other state within
the European Economic Area, or

            (bb) any standard or code of practice published by or on behalf of a body
                  established in a member state or other state within the European
                  Economic Area which includes amongst its objectives the publication
                 of standards or codes of practice for the conduct of business, or

(ii) which are otherwise applied for the purpose of ensuring compliance
with anything so required or recommended;

(d) "system controller" means, in relation to a particular telecommunication
system, a person with a right to control its operation or use.

Lawful interception of a communication

3. -
    (1)
         For the purpose of section 1(5)(a) of the Act, conduct is authorised,
          subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) below, if it consists of interception
         of a communication, in the course of its transmission by means of
          a telecommunication system, which is effected by or with the express
          or implied consent of the system controller for the purpose of -

(a) monitoring or keeping a record of communications -

(i) in order to -

(aa) establish the existence of facts, or

(bb) ascertain compliance with regulatory or self-regulatory practices
or procedures which are -

applicable to the system controller in the carrying on of his business or

           applicable to another person in the carrying on of his business where that
           person is supervised by the system controller in respect of those practices
           or procedures, or

                  (cc) ascertain or demonstrate the standards which are achieved or
                         ought to be achieved by persons using the system in the
                        course of their duties, or

(ii) in the interests of national security, or

(iii) for the purpose of preventing or detecting crime, or

(iv) for the purpose of investigating or detecting the unauthorised
use of that or any other telecommunication system, or

(v) where that is undertaken -

(aa) in order to secure, or

(bb) as an inherent part of,

          the effective operation of the system (including any monitoring or keeping
          of a record which would be authorised by section 3(3) of the Act if the
          conditions in paragraphs (a) and (b) thereof were satisfied); or

                   (b) monitoring communications for the purpose of determining
                        whether they are communications relevant to the system
                        controller's business which fall within regulation
                        2(b)(i) above; or

                  (c) monitoring communications made to a confidential voice-telephony
                      counselling or support service which is free of charge (other than
                        the cost, if any, of making a telephone call) and operated in such
                       a way that users may remain anonymous if they so choose.

(2)
Conduct is authorised by paragraph (1) of this regulation only if -

                    (a) the interception in question is effected solely for the purpose of
                         monitoring or (where appropriate) keeping a record of
                         communications relevant to the system controller's
                        business;

(b) the telecommunication system in question is provided for use
wholly or partly in connection with that business;

                    (c) the system controller has made all reasonable efforts to inform
                        every person who may use the telecommunication system in
                         question that communications transmitted by means thereof
                         may be intercepted; and

(d) in a case falling within -

                                (i)
                                   paragraph (1)(a)(ii) above, the person by or on whose
                                   behalf the interception is effected is a person specified
                                   in section 6(2)(a) to (i) of the Act;

                               (ii)
                                   paragraph (1)(b) above, the communication is one which
                                   is intended to be received (whether or not it has been
                                  actually received) by a person using the telecommunication
                                   system in question.

    (3)
         Conduct falling within paragraph (1)(a)(i) above is authorised only to the extent
         that Article 5 of Directive 97/66/EC of the European Parliament and of the
        Council of 15 December 1997 concerning the processing of personal
         data and the protection of privacy in the telecommunications
        sector so permits.

Patricia Hewitt,
Minister for Small Business and E-Commerce,
Department of Trade and Industry

2nd October 2000

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