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+title: GCHQ to face European Court over mass surveillance
+date: 2013-10-03 16:55:00 
+updated: 2013-10-03 18:13:10 
+author: hukl
+tags: update, pressemitteilung
+
+Three of Britain’s most prominent campaign groups have today announced the launch of a legal challenge against the actions of GCHQ, alleging it has illegally intruded on the privacy of millions of British and European citizens.
+
+<!-- TEASER_END -->
+
+Big Brother Watch, the Open Rights Group and English PEN, together with
+German internet activist Constanze Kurz, have filed papers at the
+European Court of Human Rights bringing an action against the UK
+Government.

 They allege that by collecting vast amounts of data
+leaving or entering the UK, including the content of emails and social
+media messages, the UK’s spy agency has acted illegally.
+
+When details recently emerged in the media about the Prism and Tempora
+programmes, codenames for previously secret online surveillance
+operations, it was revealed that GCHQ has the capacity to collect more
+than 21 petabytes of data a day – equivalent to sending all the
+information in all the books in the British Library 192 times every 24
+hours.
+
+The disclosures have raised serious parliamentary concerns both in
+Britain and at the EU level.
+
+Deighton Pierce Glynn solicitors represent the applicants, instructing
+Helen Mountfield QC of Matrix Chambers and Tom Hickman and Ravi Mehta of
+Blackstone Chambers.
+
+The legal action will be funded through donations at
+[www.privacynotprism.org.uk](http://www.privacynotprism.org.uk)
+
+**Nick Pickles**, director of Big Brother Watch, said: “The laws
+governing how internet data is accessed were written when barely anyone
+had broadband access and were intended to cover old fashioned copper
+telephone lines. Parliament did not envisage or intend those laws to
+permit scooping up details of every communication we send, including
+content, so it’s absolutely right that GCHQ is held accountable in the
+courts for its actions.”
+
+**Jim Killock**, executive director of Open Rights Group, said: “Mass
+surveillance systems create risks for everyone, and place extreme
+degrees of power in the hands of secret agencies. This is made worse by
+the lack of democratic accountability and judicial oversight. People
+living across the UK, Europe, the USA and beyond need the courts to
+protect their rights and start the process of reestablishing public
+trust.”
+
+**Jo Glanville**, Director of English PEN, said: “Privacy is now an
+essential condition for freedom of expression. Following the revelations
+about the extent to which GCHQ and the NSA have been harvesting our
+personal data, no citizen in the UK can be confident that their
+communications are private. If this legal challenge is successful then
+I’m hopeful that we will secure effective protection of our rights.”
+
+**Constanze Kurz**, spokeswoman of the CCC, said: “I want to know, as a
+European Citizen, whether the human rights convention protects me and
+others like me across Europe from mass surveillance. This is a
+cross-border issue, yet the British laws offer virtually no protection
+to persons outside the UK from surveillance by the UK and US
+Governments.”
+
+**Daniel Carey**, solicitor at Deighton Pierce Glynn, who are
+representing the applicants, said: “We are asking the court to declare
+that unrestrained surveillance of much of Europe’s internet
+communications by the UK Government, and the outdated regulatory system
+that has permitted this, breach our rights to privacy. This is not
+something the secret investigatory powers tribunal can do. Indeed, it is
+precisely the sort of case that we need the European Court of Human
+Rights for. We are asking for the case to be dealt with on a priority
+basis, so I am hopeful that it will be formally communicated to the UK
+Government within a period of weeks. After that, the timetable will be
+determined by the court.”
+
+The groups initially sought to bring their case in the UK domestic
+courts and wrote to the UK Government on 3 July 2013 stating that a
+judicial review challenge would be brought. However, the Government said
+an action in the English Courts was barred and that the groups should
+complain to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, the secretive body that
+hears complaints about the intelligence agencies and from which there is
+no appeal to the courts. However, proceedings before the tribunal would
+not permit the public examination of these important issues, nor are
+they capable of providing the remedy the applicants seek: a new
+legislative framework respectful of British and European citizens’
+privacy rights.
+
+The European Court has previously held that the IPT does not provide an
+effective remedy and that it will hear complaints directly. The
+applicants have therefore pursued their legal challenge in the European
+Court of Human Rights. It is believed that this is the first complaint
+to be made to an international court relating to the disclosures of the
+Prism and Tempora programmes.
+
+**Notes**:

 Twitter hashtag: \#privacynotprism
+
+**Further information**:
+
+Nick Pickles, Big Brother Watch: +44 07505 448925 or 0207 3406030 /
+press(at)bigbrotherwatch.org.uk
+
+Jo Glanville, English PEN: +44 0771 302 0971
+
+Jim Killock, Open Rights Group: press(at)openrightsgroup.org / +44
+07894498127 / +44 020 7096 1079
+
+Daniel Carey of Deighton Pierce Glynn solicitors on +44 0117 317 8133 /
+07815 089526 / dcarey(at)dpglaw.co.uk
+
+Constanze Kurz, CCC: constanze(at)ccc.de
+
+**Links**:
+
+<https://www.privacynotprism.org.uk/news/2013/10/03/gchq-to-face-european-court-over-mass-surveillance/>