Dr Kristian Gustafson has defended the so-called ‘Snoopers’ Charter’, arguing that scrutiny at every stage would protect the average person.
The controversial Draft Communications Date Bill would require internet and mobile providers to store their users’ browsing history for a year, and make it available to the Government on request.
Speaking on BBC One’s ‘The Big Questions’, Dr Gustafson, a Senior Lecturer in Intelligence Studies at Brunel University London, said the Bill would greatly increase national security.
He added: “There is scrutiny of every step of the process. There is internal legal scrutiny when you are doing warrants, there is scrutiny at the level of the Secretary of State, there is scrutiny by tribunal – there is then the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee looking at that, and there is ultimately elections.”
Dr Gustafson appeared alongside panellists Naomi McAuliffe from Amnesty International Scotland and Peter Jackson from the University of Glasgow.
View the full episode of ‘The Big Questions’ here.