Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport in London, UK, is pictured on Sept. 9, 2019. (AP)

The Intercept published a report on Wednesday detailing how the British law Schedule 7 is being used for purposes exceeding its intended scope - namely, purposes of mass intelligence gathering.

What is Schedule 7?

Schedule 7 is a particular segment of the Terrorism Act 2000 within the UK which confers authorities the ability to halt, interrogate, and inspect individuals at entry points like airports, seaports, and international train stations, all without requiring suspicion.

The primary objectives of Schedule 7 are to evaluate and establish whether an individual is connected to the planning, initiation, or execution of acts of terrorism and to collect information pertaining to terrorism.

Despite its extended powers at border crossings, Schedule 7 is accompanied by specific safeguards and legal constraints. Due to this, it has sparked worries regarding civil liberties, especially when applied in situations unrelated to terrorism.

The point is that this misuse of Schedule 7 has raised concerns about its potential chilling effect on journalism.

Journalists in crosshairs

The Intercept documents the experience of Muhammad Rabbani, a human rights activist and managing director of CAGE, who faced charges under the UK's Terrorism Act's Schedule 7 for refusing to provide passwords to his electronic devices at Heathrow Airport.

Rabbani, who had just returned from Doha, had collected testimony from Ali Al-Marri, who claimed torture as a suspected terrorist on US soil.

Although previously not accused of a crime, Rabbani was knowledgeable about the law he was stopped under.

He routinely worked with individuals facing terrorism charges through CAGE and used documents from Al-Marri to campaign against the documented US government torture by the FBI.

Muhammad Rabbani estimates that he has been stopped at airports about 20 times, but one particular stop stood out.

During a Schedule 7 interrogation, the police officers immediately asked about his electronic devices, requesting his passwords, making it clear they wanted access to them.

In Schedule 7 interrogations, remaining silent is not an option, and failing to respond can be considered a potential crime, essentially turning the refusal to disclose passwords into a potential offense.

Rabbani already understood, as per the law, that anyone passing through a UK port or border can be stopped and compelled to provide their passwords.

Press freedom in jeopardy?

Originally, when the Terrorism Act was passed in 2000, British lawmakers intended Schedule 7 as a means to question terrorism suspects at the border.

Even though smartphones didn't exist at the time, parliamentary debates showed concerns about the Act's potential infringement on civil liberties.

Lawmakers recognized the need to balance national security with individual freedoms, leading to concerns about whether this law might be used to target human rights activists or jeopardize press freedom.

The fears surrounding the misuse of Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act in the UK have materialized in certain instances and have prompted several journalists and human rights activists to address this serious matter.

Lord Dyson, a judge in the court of appeal, suggested that "If journalists and their sources can have no expectation of confidentiality, they may decide against providing information on sensitive matters of public interest."

What is Phantom Parrot?

Edward Snowden's 2013 leaked document revealed the existence of a program known as PHANTOM PARROT which focuses on border stops conducted under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act, specifically for the purpose of downloading digital data from individuals.

The document emphasizes the significance of Schedule 7 within PHANTOM PARROT's legal framework, highlighting that data collection is done under sections 7 and 8 of the Terrorism Act 2000, often without informing individuals that their phone data is being accessed.

Data "downloads" referred to in the document involve the utilization of Mobile Device Forensic Tools (MDFTs), enabling the complete extraction of data from mobile phones, including emails, texts, photos, location, and app data, which can then be systematically searched.

According to leaked documents from GCHQ, the UK's largest intelligence agency, the data obtained through Phantom Parrot is integrated into a larger database known as LUCKY STRIKE, which contained over a billion records at the time of the document's publication.

While the exact number of media downloads conducted by the UK government annually remains undisclosed, Muhammad Rabbani believes that the real purpose behind Schedule 7 is mass intelligence gathering.

As long as this objective remains, he doesn't anticipate Schedule 7 powers being dismantled.