• Home /
• Statewatch Database /
• Telephone tapping and mail-opening figures 1937-2000

Telephone tapping and mail-opening figures 1937-2000

Topic

Country/Region

03 April 2002

Compiled by Statewatch

The total figure for warrants issued for telephone tapping and mail-opening in the year 2000 for England and Wales was 1,608. This represents a slight drop on the previous year (1,734) but the 2000 figures are the third highest total in peacetime. In Scotland the total figure was 292 warrants, the highest ever. (Source: Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, Report of the Interception of Communications Commissioner, October 2001, Cm 5296)

The chart below gives the figures for the number of warrants issued for telephone tapping and mail-opening issued by the Home Secretary for the period 1937-2000 in England and Wales; the warrants issued by the Secretary of State for Scotland between 1967-2000; and the number issued by the Foreign Secretary between 1980-1984.

Some general observations can be made:

1) 1955 was the first year that the number of warrants issued for telephone-tapping was greater than those for mail-opening;

2) The record number of warrants issued in 1940 a total of 1,682 was exceeded for the first time in 1998 with 1,763 warrants being issued;

3) The high number of warrants between 1939-1941 is clearly attributable to the beginning of the Second World War; the rise in 1948 to the beginning of the Cold War and strikes, the post-war low point of 238 total warrants was in 1958 with the rise between 1971-1975 being due to industrial action combined with Cold War paranoia.

4) The total number of warrants was pretty steady in the 400's from 1976 until 1991. Thereafter the number of warrants has risen significantly.

ENGLAND & WALES: Year	Telephone tapping warrants	Mail opening warrants	Total
1937	17	556	573
1938	20	710	730
1939	29	973	1,002
1940	125	1,557	1,682
1941	180	862	1,042
1942	164	514	678
1943	126	329	455
1944	102	213	315
1945	56	90	146
1946	73	139	212
1947	110	190	300
1948	103	870	973
1949	133	641	774
1950	179	356	535
1951	177	486	663
1952	173	462	635
1953	202	459	661
1954	222	227	449
1955	241	205	446
1956	159	183	342
1957	n/a	n/a	n/a
1958	129	109	238
1959	159	101	260
1960	195	110	305
1961	183	75	258
1962	242	96	338
1963	270	128	398
1964	253	120	373
1965	299	93	392 [1]
1966	318	139	457
1967	307	92	399
1968	333	83	416
1969	377	93	470
1970	395	104	499
1971	418	86	504
1972	413	95	508
1973	424	73	497
1974	436	93	529
1975	468	93	561
1976	410	62	472
1977	407	84	491
1978	428	44	472
1979	411	52	463
1980	414	39	453 [2]
1981	402	46	448
1982	379	54	433
1983	372	53	415
1984	352	39	391
1985	403	40	443
1986	573	95	668 [3]
1987	438	34	472
1988	412	48	460
1989	427	31	458
1990	473	42	515
1991	670	62	732
1992	756	118	874
1993	893	105	998
1994	871	76	947
1995	910	87	997
1996	1,073	69	1,142
1997	1.391	65	1,456
1998	1,646	117	1,763

1999

1,645

89

1,734

2000

1,559

49

1,608

[1] This figure is wrongly given as 382 in Cmnd. 7873

[2] Cmnd 9438 states in the figures between 1980-1984 excludes warrants issued under the 1920 Official Secrets Act.

[3] The Report of the Commissioner for 1998 states in para.6 that the high figure for this year "is explained by the need to replace all the outstanding non-statutory warrants when the new Act came into force".

SCOTLAND: Year	Telephone tapping warrants	Mail-opening warrants	Total warrants issued for the year
1967	3	-	3
1968	10	-	10
1969	8	-	8
1970	14	-	14
1971	10	2	12
1972	15	-	15
1973	20	-	20
1974	33	5	38
1975	41	-	41
1976	41	-	41
1977	52	3	55
1978	42	-	42
1979	56	-	56
1980	50	-	50
1981	49	-	49
1982	79	2	81
1983	53	1	54
1984	71	4	75
1985	59	9	68
1986	84	4	88 [1]
1987	54	3	57
1988	54	5	59
1989	63	1	64
1990	66	2	66
1991	81	1	82
1992	87	5	92
1993	112	10	122
1994	90	10	100
1995	137	1	138
1996	228	0	228
1997	256	0	256
1998	267	1	268

 

1999

288

-

288

2000

292

-

292

[1] The Report of the Commissioner for 1998 states in para.6 that the high figure for this year "is explained by the need to replace all the outstanding non-statutory warrants when the new Act came into force".

[2] It is noticeable that several of the rises in Scotland, especially for warrants to open letters, occurs during years when strikes played an important role, e.g. 1971, 1974, 1977, 1984 and 1985. It is also apparent that the overall figures for Scotland rose significantly during the 1980s (over the 1970s).

Foreign Secretary:Year [1][2]	Telephone tapping warrants	Mail-opening warrants	Total
1980	136	-	136
1981	101	-	101
1982	92	-	92
1983	109	-	109
1984	115	-	115

[1] Figures for warrants issued by the Foreign Secretary have not been issued since 1984.

[2] The Report of the Commissioner for 1990 it states that it would be against the public interest to publish the number of warrants issued by the Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.