Investigatory Powers Act 2016

176Bulk equipment interference warrants: general

(1)For the purposes of this Act, a warrant is a “bulk equipment interference warrant” if—

(a)it is issued under this Chapter;

(b)it authorises or requires the person to whom it is addressed to secure interference with any equipment for the purpose of obtaining—

(i)communications (see section 198);

(ii)equipment data (see section 177);

(iii)any other information; and

(c)the main purpose of the warrant is to obtain one or more of the following—

(i)overseas-related communications;

(ii)overseas-related information;

(iii)overseas-related equipment data.

(2)In this Chapter—

• “overseas-related communications” means—

  (a)

  communications sent by individuals who are outside the British Islands, or

  (b)

  communications received by individuals who are outside the British Islands;

• “overseas-related information” means information of individuals who are outside the British Islands.

(3)For the purpose of this Chapter, equipment data is “overseas-related equipment data” if—

(a)it forms part of, or is connected with, overseas-related communications or overseas-related information;

(b)it would or may assist in establishing the existence of overseas-related communications or overseas-related information or in obtaining such communications or information;

(c)it would or may assist in developing capabilities in relation to obtaining overseas-related communications or overseas-related information.

(4)A bulk equipment interference warrant—

(a)must authorise or require the person to whom it is addressed to secure the obtaining of the communications, equipment data or other information to which the warrant relates;

(b)may also authorise or require the person to whom it is addressed to secure—

(i)the selection for examination, in any manner described in the warrant, of any material obtained under the warrant by virtue of paragraph (a);

(ii)the disclosure, in any manner described in the warrant, of any such material to the person to whom the warrant is addressed or to any person acting on that person’s behalf.

(5)A bulk equipment interference warrant also authorises the following conduct (in addition to the conduct described in the warrant)—

(a)any conduct which it is necessary to undertake in order to do what is expressly authorised or required by the warrant, including conduct for securing the obtaining of communications, equipment data or other information;

(b)any conduct by any person which is conduct in pursuance of a requirement imposed by or on behalf of the person to whom the warrant is addressed to be provided with assistance in giving effect to the warrant.

(6)A bulk equipment interference warrant may not, by virtue of subsection (4)(a), authorise a person to engage in conduct, in relation to a communication other than a stored communication, which would (unless done with lawful authority) constitute an offence under section 3(1) (unlawful interception).

(7)Subsection (5)(a) does not authorise a person to engage in conduct which could not be expressly authorised under the warrant because of the restriction imposed by subsection (6).

(8)In subsection (6), “stored communication” means a communication stored in or by a telecommunication system (whether before or after its transmission).

(9)Any conduct which is carried out in accordance with a bulk equipment interference warrant is lawful for all purposes.