The Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, repealed in 2016. It received Royal Assent on 17 July 2014, after being introduced on 14 July 2014. The purpose of the legislation was to allow security services to continue to have access to phone and internet records of individuals following a previous repeal of these rights by the Court of Justice of the European Union. The act was criticised by some Members of Parliament for the speed at which the act was passed through parliament, by some groups as being an infringement of privacy. Following legal action, in July 2015, the High Court issued an order that sections 1 and 2 of the Act were unlawful, and to be disapplied, suspended until 31 March 2016, thereby giving the government a deadline to come up with alternative legislation which would be compatible with EU law. an investigatory powers parliamentary bill was being drafted providing new surveillance powers, requiring records to be kept by Internet Service Providers tracking use of the internet from the UK, accessible by the police and security services without judicial oversight. The Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 was repealed on 31 December 2016 and replaced by the Investigatory Powers Act 2016.
Revocation
On 1 August 2014, the Data Retention Regulations 2014came into force, completing the framework introduced by the DRIP. They provide that a communications service provider can be required to retain data only when target of a notice of the Secretary of State. In December 2014, in R v Secretary of State for the Home Department, Mr Justice Lewis granted the Claimants permission to proceed to a substantive hearing, thus agreeing that the DRIP can be challenged by judicial review. As a reaction, the Government proposed using the Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill to extend their remit to cover data generated as a result of internet communications. On 4 June 2015 a legal challenge against the law was brought to the High Court by two MPs, Labour'sTom Watson and the ConservativeDavid Davis represented by the civil liberties organisation Liberty. They claimed that the act was rushed through parliament and was incompatible with the Human Rights Act and the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights. On 17 July 2015 the High Court upheld the challenge, finding sections 1 and 2 of the Act to be unlawful. The court issued an order that sections 1 and 2 be disapplied, suspended until 31 March 2016, thereby giving the government a deadline to come up with alternative legislation which is compatible with EU law. In October 2015, the Court of Appeal began hearing the Home Secretary's appeal against the ruling. On 21 December 2016 the European Court of Justice ruled in joined cases that the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 was unlawful The Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 was repealed on 31 December 2016 and replaced by the Investigatory Powers Act 2016.
