Technical measures (Clauses 9-16)

The lack of detail in relation to the technical measures proposals – and in particular, in relation to the scope of technical measures, the criteria for their imposition and the enforcement process – has made our assessment of the compatibility of these proposals with the human rights obligations of the United Kingdom extremely Legislative Scrutiny: Digital Economy Bill 25 difficult.

As we have explained in the past, flexibility is not an appropriate reason for defining a power which engages individual rights without adequate precision to allow for proper parliamentary scrutiny of its proportionality.

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Because of the lack of detail on the face of the Bill and the limited foundation for justification provided for the breadth of these proposed powers, we acknowledge the concerns about the potential for these powers to be applied in a disproportionate manner which could lead to a breach of internet users’ rights to respect for correspondence and freedom of expression.