How GCHQ can spy on your Facebook without a warrant

Top official reveals secret government policy justifying mass surveillance of social media users

Reflection of the Facebook logo
(Image credit: Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

Britain's top counter-terrorism official has revealed how the government is sidestepping the need for individual search warrants to spy on British Facebook and Google users.

Under UK law, "internal" communications between residents within the UK may only be intercepted with a specific warrant, issued only when there is suspicion of unlawful activity – a legal safeguard previously believed to extend to all British users, says The Guardian.

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