GCHQ 'broke rules' when spying on NGOs

British intelligence agency GCHQ did not follow proper procedures when collecting information on two international NGOs, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal has said, according to BBC News.

The IPT said rules had been broken in relation to the handling of data that had been intercepted.

However, it said the initial collection of information had been within the law.

The action was brought by NGOs (non-governmental organisations) including Amnesty and Privacy International.

They, along with the American Civil Liberties Union and others, accused the intelligence agencies of intercepting their communications.

There was no determination in most of the cases under consideration. This means either they were not spied on or if they were, then no rules were breached.

But in the case of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) and South Africa-based The Legal Resources Centre, the Tribunal ruled that GCHQ had not followed proper internal procedures.

The tribunal found that the EIPR's communications had been lawfully intercepted but the data had been stored for longer than it should have been.

In the case of the South African NGO, the tribunal said it was satisfied that the interception itself had been lawful but GCHQ internal policies for examining those communications had not been followed.