More Internet data retention legislation
Just four months after the government last issued new data retention legislation – rammed through Parliament in the course of a week – a new Bill has been introduced to extend the same powers further. This is also expected to be “fast tracked” to short-cut the Parliamentary scrutiny normally applied to primary legislation. The Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill amends the definition of “relevant communications data” that Internet providers are required to retain. The apparent intention is to ensure that Internet providers retain IP port numbers or machine MAC addresses when these are necessary to distinguish users, such as when the network is employing Carrier-Grade Network Address Translation (CGN).
The Bill contains further re-definitions to terms defined in the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Bill, suggesting the government believes it simply made mistakes with the original wording – mistakes that might have been picked up in Parliament had the fast-track procedure not been used.

