Investigatory Powers Bill — Clause 78 — Powers to Require Retention of Information on People's Internet Use — 7 Jun 2016 at 18:11

Stephen Gethins MP, North East Fife voted against the mass retention of information on people's internet usage.

The majority of MPs voted to enable a Secretary of State to require the mass retention of information on people's internet use.

MPs were considering the Investigatory Powers Bill[1].

The amendment rejected in this vote was:

  • Amendment 3, page 62, line 22, leave out “therefore includes, in particular” and insert “does not include”.

Had it not been rejected this amendment would have affected Clause 78[2] of the Bill. The text the rejected amendment sought to change is at the end of subclause (9) which defines "relevant communications data" for the purposes of Part 4 of the Bill which deals with powers for a Secretary of State to require a telecommunications operator to retain relevant communications data.

The amendment would have excluded internet connection records from the information a Secretary of State could require be retained.

Clause 54(6)[3] of the Bill defined an internet connection record as:

  • communications data which—
  • (a) may be used to identify, or assist in identifying, a telecommunications service to which a communication is transmitted by means of a telecommunication system for the purpose of obtaining access to, or running, a computer file or computer program, and
  • (b) comprises data generated or processed by a telecommunications operator in the process of supplying the telecommunications service to the sender of the communication (whether or not a person).

Subclause 54(4)(d) indicates such internet connection records can identify which internet service is being used, and when and how it is being used.

Clause 223(10) of the Bill[4] defines a telecommunications operator (to whom a retention order could apply) as :

  • a person who—
  • (a) offers or provides a telecommunications service to persons in the United Kingdom, or
  • (b) controls or provides a telecommunication system which is (wholly or partly)—
  • (i) in the United Kingdom, or
  • (ii) controlled from the United Kingdom.

Once retained provisions in other parts of the Bill could be applied by public bodies to obtain and examine the material.

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Debate in Parliament |

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Party Summary

Votes by party, red entries are votes against the majority for that party.

What is Tell? '+1 tell' means that in addition one member of that party was a teller for that division lobby.

What are Boths? An MP can vote both aye and no in the same division. The boths page explains this.

What is Turnout? This is measured against the total membership of the party at the time of the vote.

PartyMajority (No)Minority (Aye)BothTurnout
Con272 (+2 tell) 0083.0%
DUP8 00100.0%
Green0 10100.0%
Independent0 2066.7%
Lab0 301.3%
LDem0 7 (+1 tell)0100.0%
PC0 30100.0%
SDLP0 2066.7%
SNP0 51 (+1 tell)096.3%
UUP2 00100.0%
Total:282 69055.2%

Rebel Voters - sorted by party

MPs for which their vote in this division differed from the majority vote of their party. You can see all votes in this division, or every eligible MP who could have voted in this division

Sort by: Name | Constituency | Party | Vote

NameConstituencyPartyVote
no rebellions

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