Guardian News and Media/London

The Home Secretary, Theresa May, should not seek to give the intelligence agencies full access to an individual’s web browsing history, Labour and the former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg are both likely to say when the government publishes its draft investigatory powers bill today.
Kier Starmer, the former director of public prosecutions and now a shadow Home Office minister, said Labour opposed giving intelligence agencies access to web browsing history since the measure was likely to give the agencies effective access to the content of an individual’s communications.
He said: “There has been an agreed clear distinction between data and content, with data treated as the ‘who communicated with whom and at what point’, but not the content of that data.
“But by saying the agencies can collect information on pages visited, there is a sense that a difficult third category is being created that is a merger between data and content. If your browsing history is automatically accessible by the state, it is very close to granting full access to content and provides a picture of that individual’s life.
“The independent reviewer of terrorism David Anderson said the case for accessing browsing history has not yet been proven and we in the Labour party are very closely aligned to what Anderson has recommended in his report since he is the expert with the fullest access to what is required. Theresa May will have to make a very compelling case for her proposals if they differ from Anderson.”
Starmer has cleared his policy positions with the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, and the shadow home secretary, Andy Burnham.
Starmer’s warning will be a blow to the intelligence agencies before a parliamentary process that will scrutinise the plans to reach a new privacy settlement between the state and the citizen in the wake of controversy generated by the revelations of the former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.