Communications data is now used in more than 90 per cent of serious and organised crime investigations and is vital in bringing serious criminals to justice and protecting the most vulnerable among us.
I would hazard a guess that it is currently used in >90% of cases because it is currently being slurped up like a fat kid with a milkshake. Whether it provides information that is useful to the investigation is another question; one which the answer to is explicitly not stated. Probably because the truth of the matter is that actual targeted evidence gathering is likely to be much more useful in catching and convicting the perpetrators of serious crime.
I have no problem with communications being monitored when there is a court warrant for a specific investigation. After all, this is a function that the police and security services are expected to perform. Wholesale monitoring of communications, and retention of everyone's private information is another, completely different, matter. It reeks of fishing expeditions, and should be something that governments have no hand in - it should be handled by the appropriate services (i.e. police and MI5) and overseen by the judiciary (not politicians), who are impartial, and not subject to such influences as the election cycle, party loyalty, and political donations.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
