Guernsey is worried about its e-commerce future and rightly so. If the UK Parliament passes the Investigatory Powers Bill, Guernsey will have to pass legislation which could have a profound effect on the island's e-commerce.
The bill, which was originally published in May 1999 and has recently been subject to a consultation process, has shocked advocates of privacy and been attacked by human rights groups as being intrusive and breaking the European Convention on Human Rights. The British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) has also condemned the bill for its "big brother" ethos. Ensuing legislation would enable Scotland Yard, MI5 and other state agencies to intercept all Internet and e-mail communications. The Guernsey government is certainly not alone in its belief that any legislation would be detrimental to e-commerce.
In Guernsey's case, the island would have to draw up its own legislation in line with that of England and Wales. Although the bill targets England and Wales only, the Scottish Assembly and the Bailiwicks would be asked to draft up parallel legislation should the bill go through.
David Robilliard, head of constitutional affairs at Advisory and Finance, said that the island has not been informed at a political level of the legislation, but if the law were passed the Home Office would advised Guernsey and 'then it would be up to the States to enact it here.'
Chris Humphries, the BCC director-general, told Home Secretary Jack Straw that the bill could put British e-commerce at a competitive disadvantage that would ‘frustrate the government’s ambition of making the UK the best place to trade electronically by 2002’.
If the bill goes through in its present state, the police and
security services would require just one warrant from a judge
which would enable them to search a company's archive. Four warrants
would give them access to all electronic data held by Barclays,
Lloyds, TSB, NatWest and HSBC banks.
Internet providers, such as Guernsey Net and Synergy, would be required to fit black boxes on their systems which could be accessed if necessary.
The consensus is that the bill is a serious potential invasion of commercial privacy and moreover, could have damaging effects for e-commerce. Small offshore centres such as Guernsey and Jersey are putting a huge amount of effort into their e-commerce drives and the threat of this kind of legislation hanging over them is naturally alarming, Of course, it must be remembered that offshore financial centres pride themselves on their secrecy and "discretion", so do not take kindly to any kind of attack on privacy.
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