Along with Twitter, GNI company members Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo submitted written evidence to the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Draft Investigatory Powers Bill, which is now published on the committee site.
These companies emphasized the importance of surveillance that is “targeted, lawful, proportionate, necessary, jurisdictionally bounded, and transparent, ” and noted, “The actions the UK Government takes here could have far-reaching implications — for our customers, for your own citizens, and for the future of the global technology industry.”
The company response focused on six key areas of concern with the draft bill:
- Computer Network Exploitation
- Transparency and Clarity
- Bulk collection
- Judicial authorization
- Technical impositions
- Extraterritorial Jurisdiction
- The submissions also included written evidence from GNI members Human Rights Watch and the Center for Democracy and Technology.