Ok I am back. I just posted two letters one of which is a letter to the Computer Crime Unit of the Metropolitan Police. I intended to send that letter a few weeks ago but for various reasons never got around to finishing it. This afternoon I finished it and they should receive it in the morning hopefully. This is what I wrote:
Dear Sir
I write to you today to fulfill my civic duty and report a crime to you. You may or may not be aware of the recent controversy regarding an ex-spyware company called Phorm and the deal it has signed with BT, Virgin Media and TalkTalk which are the UKs 3 largest Internet Service Providers.
The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) makes intercepting internet traffic without a warrant or consent an offence. Recently BT has admitted to carrying out secret trials of Phorms technology in 2006 and 2007 which may have involved up to 108,000 users.. They have admitted to not having asked for consent or permission from those users involved in these trials and therefore have potentially committed a minimum of 108,000 criminal offences under section 1 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.
This is not just my view but also the view of the Foundation for Information Policy Research who are advisors to the government. Relevant links giving background information can be found at the bottom of this letter.
An acquaintance has already tried to report these crimes once in a phone call to Scotland Yard last month but the telephone operator refused to issue a Crime Reference Number. Given that this criminally illegal interception was on a huge scale such a refusal is unacceptable. As far as I am aware BT is not above the law of the land and therefore should not be subject to protection against appropriate investigation/prosecution.
In my opinion these offences should be investigated urgently but so far this issue has been handled like a cynical game of pass the parcel with the Information Commissioners Office saying that RIPA is the responsibility of the Home Office and the Home Office saying it is the responsibility of the police to investigate contraventions of RIPA.
Given that the Home Office insists that its the responsibility of the police to investigate, I look forward to your reply detailing what actions you will be taking to investigate the BT/Phorm trials of 2006 and 2007. Useful links to background information can be found on page two of this letter and if you require more information please do not hesitate to contact me. Please note that, unless explicity asked not to do so, I intend to publish online any response I get from you.
Yours sincerely
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At the bottom of the letter I included 4 links for background information.
If others wish to use what I wrote as a very basic template then rewrite it and improve upon it then post their own letter to the computer crime unit then please feel free to do so
