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HMRC to rethink privacy campaigner request

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12th Jun 2014
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A High Court has ruled that HMRC needs to reassess a request from privacy campaigners to investigate the legality of exporting surveillance software.

The May ruling by the High Court of Justice, concerned HMRC export control activities around a company selling software that has allegedly been used by governments to imprison or spy on activists abroad. 

The Revenue originally rejected an application by Privacy International (PI), saying that it cannot divulge any details on a related investigation, or tell the privacy activists if an investigation were pending. 

Justice Green of the Administrative Court at the High Court of Justice disagreed and ordered HMRC to re-assess a request PI's request for more information on the HMRC software.

In his 71-page ruling, some of Justice Green's criticism of HMRC - such as his opinion that it is sometimes opaque and slow to respond to complaints - may strike a chord with accountants. 

For example, Justice Green said that HMRC's response to the complaint by Privacy International reflected "confusion between left and right hands. I can in such circumstances have no confidence that HMRC has properly addressed itself to the serious complaints.

He also said disagreement about what information the Revenue should reveal had parallels with the Ingenious Media tax avoidance scheme. In October last year, a judge ruled that HMRC was entitled to give an off-the-record briefing about the tax scheme to journalists from The Times.

HMRC did not respond to a request for a comment on the ruling.

A spokesman for PI said HMRC had chosen not to appeal, and that it would re-submit it's request for information.

"We hope that given last month’s ruling, HMRC will respond in a timely fashion that provides us information on what, if anything, they are doing to investigate the potentially illegal sale of spyware to repressive regimes."

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