RIPA (3) ...

Intrusive surveillance:

Intrusive surveillance involves the presence of an individual on private residential premises or in a private vehicle. It also includes any surveillance carried out by means of a device.

Due to its invasiveness, this type of surveillance is only used to catch offenders suspected of serious crimes. Only the most senior authorising officer in relevant public authorities can approve intrusive surveillance. A separate authorisation from the Secretary of State is required if the police or other law enforcement agencies plan to interfere with property or with wireless telegraphy when concealing a surveillance device.

Encryption:

Encryption means scrambling electronic information into a secret code of letters, numbers and symbols. Encrypted information can't be unscrambled without a decoding key.

Encryption is widely used in the public and private sector to protect sensitive electronic data (for example, it is used to protect credit card information when purchases take place over the Internet).

Many people also choose to use readily available encryption programmes to encrypt their email, files, folders, documents and pictures. These same technologies are also used by terrorists, criminals and paedophiles to conceal their activities.

The increased availability of encryption software means investigators are already encountering more cases of protected data.

Part III of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act thus requires that: Protected electronic information to be put into an intelligible form;That the key is disclosed, to enable the data to be put into an intelligible form.

Controversy:

Critics claim that the spectres of terrorism, internet crime and paedophilia were use to push the legislation through Parliament and that there was little substantive debate in the House of Commons at this time. The Act also has numerous critics, many of whom regard the RIPA regulations as excessive and a threat to civil liberties in the UK.

Another objection is that the Act requires sufficiently large UK Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to install technical systems to assist law enforcement agencies with interception activities. Although this equipment must be installed at the ISP's expense, RIPA does provide that Parliament will examine appropriate funding for ISPs, if the cost burden becomes unfairly high.