Current status of terrorist internet filtering
Dear Home Office,
In November 2011 you said that the Home Office had suspended its practice of telling filtering companies to block access to certain websites:
"unlawful terrorist URLs are not being designated or supplied to filtering companies. The decision to terminate the process was made in March 2011." [1]
However, in your CONTEST Annual Report for 2012 you say that this still continues:
"We will increase collaboration with industry and continue sharing unlawful websites for inclusion in commercial filtering products." [2]
I would be obliged therefore if you would now clarify the following points.
1. Are "unlawful terrorist URLs" or any other website addresses currently being provided to filtering companies to be blocked?
2. If so, is this being done under the previous system described in FOI 20529 or under a new system?
If a new system is or has been in place:
3. When did this system take effect?
4. Who was consulted prior to the introduction of the new system? Please provide copies of any consultation documents or responses received.
5. Was any regulatory impact assessment, assessment for compatibility with the Human Rights Act 1998 or other assessment carried out prior to the adoption of this system? If so, please provide a copy of same.
6. What is the statutory or other legal basis for this system?
7. Who is responsible for determining what URLs should be blocked?
8. What criteria are used in making this determination? Please furnish a copy of these criteria.
9. What training is offered to those responsible for making this determination? Please furnish a copy of the training material used.
10. What appeal or other mechanism is available to challenge wrongful inclusion on this list? Please furnish a copy of any documentation relating to same.
In November 2011 you also indicated that the end of the previous blocking system was "driven by the desire of the Home Office to develop a more transparent process" [1].
11. What steps have been taken towards developing a more transparent process?
Yours faithfully,
TJ McIntyre
[1] FOI 20529
[2] Cm 8583, para. 2.56
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Dear Mr McIntyre,
Please see the attached letter relating to your Freedom of Information
request.
Yours sincerely,
J Fanshaw
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Dear TJ McIntyre
Please see the attached letter relating to your Freedom of Information
request.
Yours sincerely,
J Fanshaw
Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.
Dear J Fanshaw,
Thank you for your reply. The document which you attach is quite helpful but still appears to leave open some of the questions. I would be obliged therefore if you could clarify the following points which it doesn't seem to address:
4. Who was consulted prior to the introduction of the new system? Please provide copies of any consultation documents or responses received.
11. What steps have been taken towards developing a more transparent process?
Yours sincerely,
TJ McIntyre
Dear Mr Fanshaw,
Further to my email of July 3rd, I would be obliged if you could now clarify points 4 and 11 of my request.
Yours sincerely,
TJ McIntyre
Dear Mr Fanshaw,
I would be obliged if you could now reply to my email of July 3rd.
Yours sincerely,
TJ McIntyre
Dear Home Office,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Home Office's handling of my FOI request 'Current status of terrorist internet filtering'.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...
As you will see from that, I have not received any response to my follow up emails of July 3rd, July 30th and August 19th. I suspect that these may have been lost in your email system.
Yours faithfully,
TJ McIntyre
Thank you for contacting the FOI Requests mailbox.
Your message has been logged and will be dealt with shortly.
We aim to provide a response to all FOI requests within 20 working days.
If your message is with regard to an existing FOI case or is a general
query please ensure you have left any file references and contact details.
Thank you.
Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.
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Dear Mr McIntyre
Thank you for your correspondence of 3 July in which you ask two follow up questions regarding the URL filtering list. Please accept our apologies for the delay in responding to you.
Firstly, OSCT holds no consultation records relating to this initiative.
Secondly, with regard to transparency, we have publicly discussed our approach to restricting access to illegal terrorist content online in both the Prevent Strategy (published June 2011) and the Contest Annual Report (published March 2013).
Yours sincerely,
J Fanshaw
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