Since 2012, the PSNI has used RIPA nearly 22,000 times

THE PSNI has paid internet and telephone companies nearly £700,000 in the last five years to access information about people's private communications.

Since 2012, police have also used controversial anti-terror spying laws almost 22,000 times for the 'acquisition and disclosure of phone and internet records'.

Last year alone, officers used the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) on 4,618 occasions - a 17 per cent increase over the last five years.

The Irish News has previously revealed how Stormont departments have used the legislation to investigate benefit cheats and illegal taxis.

Described as a "snooper's charter", RIPA gives police and government bodies powers which allow the "interception of communications, the acquisition and disclosure of data relating to communications, the carrying out of surveillance [and] the use of covert human intelligence sources".

This means phone calls, text messages and emails of individuals can be legally obtained by various authorities without their knowledge.

Once a RIPA order is signed off, the PSNI must pay service providers to access the specific communications data.

Since 2012, this bill has totalled £675,033.22.

The figures were released to The Irish News via several freedom of information requests.

Concerns about RIPA have been raised in recent years after it emerged that police and intelligence services were using the powers to access phone records of journalists.

Privacy campaigners have argued that it damages media freedom by limiting the protection they can provide to sources and whistleblowers.

In February 2015 an oversight body, the Interception of Communications Commissioner's Office (IOCCO), revealed that 19 police forces had used RIPA to track down journalists' sources between October 2011 and October 2014.

As part of these applications, 82 journalists had their phone records accessed.

In an investigation into the Police Service of Scotland, the IOCCO found that "failures identified can properly be viewed as reckless".

Responding to the figures, a PSNI spokesman said the most common reason for using RIPA was the prevention and detection of crime.

"RIPA requires careful consideration of not only the necessity but also the proportionality of the proposed activity in order to assess any potential interference with Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998," he said.

"The use of RIPA is supported by independent oversight and inspection and with regards to communications data, this requirement is fulfilled by the Interception of Communications Commissioners Office (IOCCO) who conduct annual inspections and publish a public report."

The spokesman did not respond when asked to confirm if any journalists' records had been accessed.