The Interception of Communications Commissioner has revealed that police and other agencies made 21,000 more requests for citizens' communications data in 2009 than the previous year.
Sir Paul Kennedy disclosed in his annual report that in 2009, public authorities made 525,130 data requests to ISPs to view people's phone and email records. That figure compares with a total of 504,073 requests in 2008.
It is probable that the rise is down to the growing number of online crimes that police are having to investigate, said Kennedy in the document, which was published on Tuesday.
"I cannot give a precise reason for this, but there is evidence that more and more police forces have to investigate internet-related crime, including paedophile rings and the requirements to obtain communications data in these types of cases can be quite extensive," he said.
The commissioner also revealed that ICC inspectors found the Financial Services Authority to be the "largest user" of communications data requests, with its total of 2,259.
A total of 661 errors, in which organisations obtained the wrong communications data, were reported to the ICC by public authorities in 2009. Kennedy said that although the number seems large, "it is very small when it is compared to the numbers of requests for data which are made nationally".
"I am not convinced that any useful purpose would be served by providing a more detailed report of these errors. I should add that neither I nor any of my inspectors have uncovered any wilful or reckless conduct which has been the cause of these errors," he said.
Kennedy disclosed that a "considerable proportion" of the errors were due to the incorrect transposition of telephone numbers.
Alex Deane, director of privacy group Big Brother Watch, called the ICC report's findings "shocking".
"The level of covert surveillance in this country is shocking. These operations are now part of our nation's everyday life. Worst of all, the commissioner has revealed that dozens of operations conducted in the past year were in fact unauthorised," he said.
"These unauthorised operations were not only intrusive, but also often extensive, the longest lasted for 24 days. That's over three weeks of illegal surveillance by the state, without any apparent repercussions for those who did it," he added.
Kennedy said the outcomes of the inspections carried out on police forces across England and Wales "were good" and that it is confident that communications data is being obtained lawfully. But the commissioner did point out that "one or two" police forces had been slow in responding to findings from previous inspection reports.
"As a consequence (of inspections), the overwhelming number of police forces and law enforcement agencies are sustaining a good level of compliance with the Act and Code of Practice," Kennedy added.
Talkback
It could be worse you, too, could have warrantless wiretaps under a "patriot" act.
For peace of mind find Phil Zimmerman's proof of concept encrypted RTP, zRTP -- voip.