"Vodafone chairman promises to protect customers' right to privacy", 29 July 2014

Vodafone's chairman, Gerard Kleisterlee, has promised to protect the right to privacy, saying the mobile network will engage with the UK government's review of how the intelligence agencies intercept and collect data on its customers. "We will engage with governments when and where legal frameworks are being reviewed and that holds for the UK," he said at the firm's annual shareholder meeting in London..."We are very much focussed on protecting the rights of customers and protecting their privacy." The home secretary, Theresa May, has asked the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, David Anderson QC, to lead a review of the interception and data collection powers required by law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and the legal framework under which they operate. The inquiry will look at whether new legislation is needed, and whether the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa) needs to be amended or replaced, and consultation responses are due by 3 October. Kleisterlee said Vodafone's response would echo the principles outlined in its report on government surveillance, which showed around half a dozen countries can access its network without warrants and without obtaining permission from it...The campaign group Access urged the firm to reduce the number of countries which use secret wires to gain access all data on its network without warrants. Peter Micek of Access said: "Vodafone have already called for an end to unfettered access. Put some action behind those words and announce five years from not that it's no longer happening."