ABSTRACT
The Edward Snowden revelations had a seismic effect on public attitudes towards state surveillance. So great was the impact that the United Nations saw fit to add the practice to its specific concerns and to institute a system of continuing review. The tension between the opportunities that big data presents, especially for less developed countries, and the protection of privacy was acknowledged. In Europe, the Court of Human Rights, the European Court of justice and British Courts considered challenges to the legality of bulk surveillance and data acquisition brought by civil liberties’ groups such as Privacy International and Liberty. As a consequence, a list of common principles has been adopted as general criteria towards assessing whether a breach of Article 8 has occurred. These criteria include proportionality, legal clarity and oversight. They form the basis for the background to the reform proposals considered in chapter 4. The scope of National Competence and the possible impact of Brexit is discussed. The debate over whether there should be notification to a subject of surveillance and the practice of ‘Neither Confirm Nor Deny’ (NCDC) concludes this chapter.
