UK spies were blasted for using pandemic as an excuse to ignore spy laws

A recently published report by the UK’s Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office (IPCO) has revealed that the country’s (in)famous spy agency GCHQ was among those with great power who resorted to using the pandemic as an excuse to break the rules, only to promise to catch up, and “do better.”

The rules in question are not trivial: they are in place to make sure GCHQ carries out internal audits that show the organization is complying with the law pertaining to the way it handles warranted data. But in early 2020, GCHQ decided to suspend these audits – on its own, without consulting or informing either IPCO or the foreign secretary.