Spooks can legally search library records

Both the security services and the police have the right to demand access to library records, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (Cilip) has discovered. Spooks can demand access to library information or carry out surveillance under the Intelligence Services Act, Terrorism Act 2000 and the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.

Under terror legislation, security service or police officers investigating terrorist or other serious crimes in England and Wales have the right to see information on books borrowed or internet sites accessed by certain library users, a barrister told Cilip. They can also mount surveillance operations in libraries if they believe that national security is at risk, or in the interests of public safety, or to prevent or detect crime.

The advice to Cilip comes from human rights barrister James Eadie, and is based on four separate pieces of legislation. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and the Terrorism Act 2000 allow the police to apply for an order authorising access to library records. The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) allows surveillance operations to be carried out, and the Intelligence Services Act 1994 allows the Secretary of State to issue a warrant authorising security services to protect national security against terrorist threats.

The legal position on surveillance is not completely clear-cut, but under RIPA the police could monitor individuals’ activities or communications, record anything monitored with a surveillance device and engage in covert surveillance to obtain private information about an individual. The Act may also give the power to insist on the installation of spyware, said Eadie.

Cilip sought the advice from Eadie after a number of instances in which police had approached Cilip members with requests for information about library users’ activities. CILIP’s president, Deborah Shorley, told that, although librarians should be vigilant, they should not over-react: “We cannot collude with fishing expeditions by the authorities. We expect our members to respect the law of the land, and this advice tells us just where we stand.”

Bob McKee Cilip chief executive said "It’s important to note that this advice could apply to all library sectors, it is not just restricted to public libraries."