As reported by the Newspaper Society: Journalists will be excluded from the regulation to allow for legitimate investigations in the public interest.
The new controls will be effected by bringing into force the provisions already in place in the Private Security Industry Act 2001 relating to regulation and licensing of private investigators.
At the time of the Act’s passage through Parliament, the Newspaper Society led successful media representations which resulted in a specific exemption from regulation, on freedom of expression grounds, for “activities carried out for the purpose of obtaining information exclusively with a view to its use, or the use of information to which it relates, for the purposes of or in connection with the publication to the public or to a section of the public of any journalistic, literary or artistic material or of any work of reference”.
Announcing the move, the Home Secretary Theresa May said: “It is vital we have proper regulation of private investigators to ensure rigorous standards in this sector and the respect of individuals’ rights to privacy.
“That is why I am announcing today the Government’s intention to regulate this industry, making it a criminal offence to operate as a private investigator without a licence.
“Anyone with a criminal conviction for data protection offences can expect to have their application for a licence refused. Journalists will be excluded from regulation to allow them to carry out legitimate investigations in the public interest.”
