Tiffany Lin

GCHQ has many negative connotations attached to it - including illegally collecting data from the UK public - but David Omand, former head of GCHQ and now professor at Kings, is hoping for a change in the way goverments deals with our private information.


Referring to new legislation that is currently going through parliament - the ‘Investigatory Powers Law’ - he explained how regulation is being implemented to create transparency in the way the UK government deals with cybersecurity. “What is going on, as we speak, is a phase change in the relationship between the secret state and parliament,” explained Omand. “One way of looking at this is that the secret activity of the state is now being fully bought under the modern rule of law.”

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In 2013, when the NSA scandal went public, the way governments mine data from its citizens became of public concern. No longer were the intelligence departments free to take what they wanted without public repercussion and outrage. “It kicked off a moral panic around Europe. It lead to investigations and endless court cases against the government.”

However, in 2015 and 2016, when terrorists hit Paris, Orlando, Nice and other major cities around the world, intelligence agencies cited the attacks as the reason behind their rigorous stealing of data.


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Omand explained how we’d reached this state of cyberthreat. “There were urgent demands for intelligence on those who mean us harm, but that coincided with the fact that we have been placing our personal intelligence in the digital world.”

So where does the line stand with mining data for security reasons? Is there a balance to be reached between privacy and security? According to Omand, “2017 is the year of reconciliation, in which we recognise as a mature democracy, it is possible to have sufficient security and sufficient privacy.”

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“The key to that is rule of law. Courts have to have comprehensible, black letter law.”

The Investigatory Powers Law is a new bill to, hopefully, provide transparency and regulation and judicial oversight. Various elements like communication data and meta-data, internet connection records, single and bulk interception and equipment interference or hacking will be regulated under this new law.

In light of this, Omand hopes that along with the new National Cyber Security Centre, that will be reporting to GCHQ (“their email address starts ‘opendoor’” Omand boasted) a balance will be reached.


However, many are still skeptical. “I hope I've convinced you of this paradigm shift. It’s a big change.”

Omand currently serves as a Commissioner for the Global Commission on Internet Governance, and was the director of GCHQ from 1996 to 1997

He was appointed in 2002 the first UK Security and Intelligence Coordinator, having previously been Permanent Secretary of the Home Office 1997 to 2001 and before that the Director of GCHQ, the UK’s intelligence and cyber-security organisation.