THE TORIES’ latest snooper's charter, allowing the bulk collection of personal data on such spurious grounds as “protecting public health,” is illegal and must be scrapped, the High Court heard today.

The Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) authorises web and phone companies to retain communications that provide a “comprehensive and intimate portrait of a person’s private life”  for access by the police and security agencies.

Civil rights group Liberty is bringing a crowd-funded legal challenge to the legality of the Act's data retention powers, arguing that they permit “significant intrusion” into British citizens’ rights to a private life and freedom of expression.