The UK's mass surveillance program, exposed by whistleblower Edward Snowden, violates free speech and privacy, the court ruled. However, judges didn't come down as hard on intelligence agencies as some might have hoped.
Human rights groups, civil liberties organizations, privacy advocates and journalists brought the case to Europe's top rights court. The groups launched their legal challenge after US whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed the UK's surveillance and intelligence-sharing practices, dubbed the "Big Brother" program.
Main takeaways from the ruling
The court examined three contentious points in the British surveillance program: bulk interception of communications, obtaining data on targets from communications providers and the legality of intelligence sharing with foreign governments.
Here's how they ruled on each one:
The UK's mass collection of information and communications was found to violate Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights that guarantees a right to privacy. Judges noted that there was "insufficient oversight" over the selection and interception of the data.
However, the court said that the bulk interception of communications was not, in and of itself, illegal, but that future programs "had to respect criteria set down in its case-law."
The court was more decisive when it came to the interception of journalistic material, ruling that such programs violate the right freedom of information.
A program for obtaining data from communications providers was also found to be "not in accordance with the law."
The exchange of intelligence data between foreign governments, such as the exchange between British and US spy agencies, was ruled legal.
What this means for mass surveillance: The decision dealt a major legal blow to European countries using blanket surveillance programs, but left intelligence agencies with some space to maneuver. Countries are still free to share intelligence with one another, and a doorway was left open for countries to continue intercepting large amounts of private communications, provided there are better mechanisms in place governing the selection and examination of the data.
Snowden aftermath: The ECHR decision comes over five years after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden released documents to journalists that detailed the US government's surveillance methods. The documents also disclosed how US and British intelligence agencies shared data with one another and tapped in to fiber optic cables.
What happens next: The court has given Britain three months to decide whether or not they want to appeal the decision.
Showing what's hidden: How artists portray surveillance
Surveillance is by definition clandestine, but three Berlin exhibitions are uncovering the invisible. In some cases, the result is humorous - but only at first glance.
Image: Edu Bayer
Masters of disguise
This picture from the Stasi archive is one of a series used to demonstrate to East German secret service agents how to disguise themselves as civilians. From a collection by Berlin-based photographer Simon Menner, it is on show as part of "Watching You, Watching Me" at Berlin's Museum für Fotografie. Although the images are comical at first glance, closer examination reveals their darker meaning.
Image: Simon Menner/BStU
Visual evidence
The Berlin exhibition "Watching You, Watching Me" includes work by artists depicting visual evidence of surveillance. This image is taken from New York-based artist Edu Bayer's series "Qaddafi Intelligence Room," which documents late Libyan dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi's internet surveillance center and intelligence headquarters in Tripoli.
Image: Edu Bayer
The artist as a spy
Andrew Hammerand's "Detail From the New Town" is a series of 21 photographs that the artist made by accessing a camera on top of a church in the center of an idealized planned community in the American Midwest. Using the internet, Hammerand was able to control the camera and take photographs of the small town and its residents.
Image: Andrew Hammerand
Colorful censorship
Belgian artist Mishka Henner created the series "Dutch Landscapes" after discovering that collages of colorful polygonal blots were being used on Google Maps to censor sites deemed vital to national security in the Netherlands, such as royal palaces, fuel depots and army barracks.
Image: Mishka Henner
Creeping fear
The titular picture of "The Field Has Eyes," also on show at the Museum für Fotografie in Berlin, dates from 1546 and shows a man creeping towards a forest where eyes protrude from the ground and ears grow on the trees. The man is accompanied by a rabbit, a traditional symbol of fear.
Image: Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin/J. Anders
Divine eye of God
This image by Jacques Callot from 1628 depicts the eye of God watching over mankind. The all-seeing eye has long been a symbol of divine omniscience, but in more recent times the image has taken on a more sinister meaning, for example when being used to represent the concept of Big Brother.
Image: Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin/D. Katz
Surveillant gaze
The Berlin exhibition "The Field Has Eyes" includes a series of CCTV images of bank robberies from the picture archives of US newspapers. They come from the private collection of Günter Karl Bose, a professor at the Academy of Visual Arts in Leipzig, who bought them on eBay. Providing a rare and powerful insight into the workings of the surveillant gaze, they're on display here for the first time.
Image: Günter Karl Bose
Harsh lessons
"Watched! Surveillance Art and Photography" at C/O Berlin features videos as well as static images. These include Hito Steyerl's "How Not to Be Seen: A Fucking Didactic Educational," a satirical film offering advice on how to remain inconspicuous while in the grip of digital technology.
Image: Hito Steyerl, courtesy of the artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
Alternative narratives
Ann-Sofi Sidén's "Sticky Floors (Lunch to Last Call)" is a nine-channel video installation showing CCTV images of a bar and restaurant. Swedish artist Sidén works in performance, sculpture, photo and film, often exploring the idea of alternative narratives.
Image: Ann-Sofi Sidén, courtesy of the artist and Galerie Barbara Thumm
Protecting borders
This image, entitled "High Performance Camera," is from a series by Berlin-based photographer Julian Röder documenting the officers and equipment used by the European Union to guard its borders. Röder grew up in communist East Germany and his work often deals with surveillance and systems used to stop illegal immigration.
