The UK's controversial Investigatory Powers Bill (IPB) 2024 has officially received the King's nod of approval and will become law.
This week's simple policy bill: the investigative powers bill
Dubbed the "snooper's charter" by critics, it aims to expand the digital surveillance powers in the existing Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (IPA) used by UK intelligence services, the police, the government and some emergency services.
Before the latest changes came into force, the IPA already allowed authorized parties to collect reams of information about UK citizens and exploit telecommunications activities – phone calls and SMS texts.
The IPB's changes add to the law's existing powers and help authorities sift through more data, which the government claims is a way to tackle "modern" threats to national security and child abuse.
