In the UK wiretap (and any other surveillance) orders can come from local council officials (and hundreds of other public and some non-public bodies) and have b

In the UK wiretap (and any other surveillance) orders can come from local council officials (and hundreds of other public and some non-public bodies) and have been used for such major crimes as dog fouling and placing your child in the local school [1]. Councils have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds following innocent people for months using these powers. It did lead to some changes but did not actually remove these powers from minor petty officials. The new bill is reintroducing far reaching powers which were originally rejected from the first RIPA legislation and extending the powers already there by very significant levels (beyond where they were originally before being rolled back). PI are highlighting that in the US, Apple were at least able to publicly disclose what they believe is an egregious over-reach by a law enforcement body. In the UK, Apple execs would currently be facing significant jail time for what they have done. [1] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/12/police-ripa-powers-journalists-surveillance http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/12/police-ripa-pow... [edit: grammar, sorry]