[amateria]

Apologies if it has already been posted, but it is worth bearing in mind Art 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights:

"Article 8: Right to Respect for Private and Family Life

1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.

2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others."

Liberty comments, on its website: Article 8 guarantees respect for four things: a person’s private life, family life, home and correspondence.

Although the Convention does not in itself give rise to legal rights, as I understand it the courts have to interpret legislation (such as RIPA) so as to be consistent with the Human Rights Act (which gives effect to the Convention). So the courts should not interpret RIPA in such a way as to permit surveillance of people's electronic correspondence (including web traffic - posting to this forum is surely correspondence).

But I'm going to look at Alexander's article now, before I display my ignorance of (this part of) the law further,