Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the powers of law enforcement agencies to identify and investigate criminal activity conducted using VoIP services.

Under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, law enforcement agencies can apply for targeted interception warrants, equipment interference warrants, and communications data acquisition authorisations, all of which can enable access to data associated with VoIP services.

These powers can enable authorities to identify users, access metadata, and, where authorised, obtain content when necessary and proportionate and subject to satisfying the stringent safeguards within the legislation.

This means that law enforcement have a range of powers to identify and investigate criminal activity conducted using VoIP services. The Home Office keeps the effectiveness of these powers under review.