Big Brother Tapping Our Phones And Emails 1,000 Times A Day

The report, by the Interception of Communications Commissioner Sir Paul Kennedy - a former appeal court judge - found that more than 1,000 bugging operations had been flawed.

In some instances, innocent people had their phones tapped due to administrative errors.

With Britain already possessing the highest density of CCTV cameras per person anywhere in the world, Labour MP David Winnick, a member of the Commons home affairs committee, said greater legal protection is needed to prevent abuse of surveillance powers.

He said: "Most of these operations are needed and done for good reasons, but the numbers do raise concerns about the safeguards we have put in place to protect people from constant intrusion."

Communications data has provided crucial evidence which has led to the arrest and conviction of kidnappers, rapists and paedophiles, helped prevent murders and gather intelligence on terrorism at home and abroad, the report stated.

But Sir Paul said telephone taps and other 'intercept' material should not be used in court cases, with any benefits of a change in the law 'heavily outweighed' by the disadvantages.

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