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Britain passes internet spy bill

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CIOL Britain's House of Commons passes controversial 'snooper's' bill

After the US government bypassed Apple Inc's reservations, to hack into a terrorist's iPhone, the UK House of Commons has now passed a controversial bill giving spy agencies the authority for bulk surveillance and computer hacking.

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Many of the surveillance techniques - such as scooping up the metadata of communications and using malware to gain access to the computers and mobile phones of terrorist suspects - have already been in use by UK spy agencies, albeit unofficially, this bill gives them the official right to do so.

The bill, which was introduced by the Conservative Party-led government in March after modifications to address concerns of tech companies, privacy advocates, and other civil liberty groups, was passed on Wednesday in the House of Commons by a vote of 444 to 69.

Most of the opposition Labour Party voted with the conservative majority to advance the bill to the House of Lords, while the opposition Scottish National Party voted against it, citing concerns about privacy and civil rights.

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The legislation was sharply criticized by technology companies after it was first proposed last year, with Apple chief executive Tim Cook warning of "dire consequences" if the bill is passed with language weakening encryption. Other technology giants such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, and Yahoo also said the law would undermine customers' faith in their products and brands.

Expressing concerns over the logistics of facilitating such a law, telecom company Vodafone said it will have to deploy extra cost for modifying its systems to comply with the new law and that allowing the government to hack into its network might compromise its stability and integrity.

The new version of the bill, however, says that companies will not be required to build backdoors to their encryption and will only be asked to remove such a code on a government request, only if technically feasible and not unduly expensive. The bill also has possible provisions for the communication companies to claim expenses they incur to comply with the new legal obligations.

The House of Lords will now consider the proposed law, known as the Investigatory Powers Bill. The legislation, which some critics have branded as snooper's charter, will also be analyzed by a panel of legal experts chaired by David Anderson QC, the UK's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation. If the bill is passed in the House of Lords, the law will come into effect by January 2017.

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