LONDON -- Plans to allow British security services to monitor Internet traffic will not create an all-seeing cyberspace spy, the government said on Friday.
Civil liberties groups have said the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) bill would give police free rein to snoop on Internet users and could lead to people being jailed for forgetting their computer passwords.
But the government said the bill only updates police powers to intercept and monitor communications, bringing them up to speed with increasingly techno-savvy criminals.
"We've seen the growth of very strong encryption codes, virtually unreadable in fact, which are good for e-commerce security but can be used in other ways," a Home Office spokesman said.
"Criminals are innovators, and pedophiles, for example, could disguise their activities through encryption."
He confirmed that people who refused to reveal encryption keys to police -- allowing them to read coded information -- could face a two-year jail sentence under the bill.
"The police have to prove the encryption key was deliberately withheld," the spokesman said.
"We're not talking about people going to prison for forgetting passwords."
The bill had its second reading on Thursday in the House of Lords, Britain's upper chamber of parliament, and should go to a final reading in mid-June, the spokesman said.
Home Secretary Jack Straw introduced the bill earlier this year to a chorus of disapproval, mainly over its power to force Internet service providers (ISPs) to grant police access to a huge amount of information on internet users.
Civil liberties groups said the bill would make it far easier for police to access web surfers' personal and banking data, lists of websites visited, and even allow real-time monitoring of people's Internet activity.
But the Home Office insisted the bill gave no new powers to security services, and that they would need a special warrant to access information from ISPs.
"Interception of communications is only used on the authorization of the Home Secretary himself," the Home Office spokesman said.
"And it's only used in defense of national security or on suspicion of serious crime, like narcotics smuggling or terrorism."
He said about 2,000 warrants for communications interception were issued last year.
The government wanted the bill passed before October, the spokesman added, when British law is due to become fully compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights.
