The collection of intelligence is at the heart of the Security Service's work. By gathering secret intelligence, we seek to obtain detailed knowledge of target organisations, their key personalities, infrastructure, intentions, plans, and capabilities.
We obtain intelligence through a number of means. The principal techniques for gathering intelligence are:
All of the techniques are used in accordance with the legal requirements established by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (new window) (RIPA) and the associated Codes of Practice. The use of each technique is independently scrutinised.
The Security Service Act 1989 (new window) makes the Director General responsible for ensuring that there are effective arrangements within the Service to control when and how we obtain and disclose information. A major aspect of this control is a system of internal mechanisms designed to ensure that we investigate only genuine threats to national security. We do so with proper regard for the law, in proportion to the threat, and with authorisation for intrusive measures obtained externally (from the appropriate Secretary of State) where the law so requires. In other cases, decisions are taken internally at a level of seniority appropriate to the degree of intrusiveness.
These arrangements, which are fully compliant with RIPA, are also designed to allow fast-moving investigations to proceed swiftly without being hampered by unnecessary bureaucracy.
At any one time we are likely to be conducting many investigations, but only in a very few of the most important ones would we need to use all of the methods of intelligence collection. Eavesdropping, for example, is not only highly intrusive, which means that our intelligence case for using it must be strong, but also, if it is to be carried out securely, technically complex and resource-intensive. As a result, it is used sparingly.
In using intrusive techniques to gather intelligence our underlying aim is always to take effective steps with the minimum intrusion and in proportion to the threat. Much of the skill of intelligence work lies in finding the right blend of techniques to meet the requirements of an investigation. Before we use the most intrusive methods of gathering intelligence, for which a warrant is required, we must justify to a Secretary of State that what we propose to do is:
The Secretary of State also needs to be satisfied that the information we expect to obtain could not reasonably be obtained by any other means. These are important tests and we take care to apply for warrants only where the threshold is clearly met. Applications for warrants are made only where we have a strong case and they are considered very carefully by Home Office officials before being put to the Secretary of State for a decision.
Naturally, people who pose a threat to national security, such as terrorists or spies, are aware that their activities may attract our attention and they will do what they can to prevent us from detecting them. Equally, we try to gather intelligence without the targets realising we have them under investigation. This is not just to avoid compromising our investigations while they are running, but also to protect our methods so that we can use them again in the future.