In its original ruling, the IPT said GCHQ's interception and examination of EIPR emails was, in fact, lawful and proportionate. The problem was how long the agency held onto the information before destroying it. According to the tribunal, GCHQ broke its internally-set time limits for data retention and, as a result, breached article 8 (a right to privacy) under the European Convention on Human Rights. The tribunal did say, however, that it was "satisfied" the data wasn't accessed after the retention period had expired.

It's not clear how the IPT managed to make such a glaring mistake. However, for Amnesty International larger questions remain: when and why was the UK government spying on their staff, and to what purpose would they want to read such communications?

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