What exactly is phone-hacking?
Intercepting another person’s mobile phone voicemail messages by using the security code to access the mailbox. It used to be relatively easy because very few people changed the default code set by the phone company. People shouls set their own four-digit security code.
It’s a breach of privacy but is it illegal?
Yes. Accessing another person’s messages without permission is potentially an offence under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and possibly the Computer Misuse Act. But the legal position has led to arguments between the police and the Crown Prosecution Service.police say the CPS has given conflicting advice. Claims that journalists deleted messages from Milly Dowler’s phone could also lead to charges of perverting the course of justice.
How did it come to light?
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In 2005 royal aides were concerned about several stories in the News of the World, including one about Prince William injuring his knee, which disclosed private information. Police were contacted and anti-terrorist detectives began investigating a potential security threat to the royal household.
In 2007 Clive Goodman, the NoW’s royal editor, and Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator, pleaded guilty to phone hacking and were jailed. The NoW Editor Andy Coulson resigned but denied personal knowledge of hacking.
Why were the 2007 convictions not the end of the matter?
It appeared to be for a while. But The Guardian discovered that News International was settling High Court actions with a number of public figures. Further stories emerged in the New York Times as well as in British media and politicians began calling for the police investigation to be re-opened. In January this year News International voluntarily handed over a huge archive of e-mails and Scotland Yard began a new inquiry codenamed Operation Weeting; 50 detectives have been assigned to the case. Mr Coulson, who had become the Prime Minister’s chief spokesman, resigned that post as the scandal was re-ignited.
So who else was hacked?
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The list of victims has been growing. This week alone, Colin Stagg, who was wrongly accused of Rachel Nickell’s murder, and Sir Richard Branson have said that police had contacted them. Public figures including Max Clifford, Elle Macpherson, Jude Law, Paul Gascoigne, George Galloway, Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs have also been identified.
Others taking legal action against the News of the World include rival tabloid reporters who believe that the newspaper was hacking their phones to steal their stories. Andy Gray, the football pundit, and Sienna Miller, the actress, have accepted damages from a £15 million fund set up by News International to apologise to victims. Police have also told Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News International, that her messages were intercepted on at least 20 occasions.
What’s different about hacking phones in the Milly Dowler case?
This takes the scandal to a new level. It’s no longer about journalists snooping on adulterous footballers, politicans and celebrities, it’s about intruding on the privacy of a family tormented by the fact that their teenage daughter is missing and feared dead. Mark Lewis, the lawyer acting for the Dowler family, said the paper had “no humanity”, and the Labour MP Chris Bryant, in calling for an emergency debate in the Commons, said journalists had been “playing God with a family’s emotions”.
Are police more concerned over the Dowler allegations?
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There is concern among detectives in Surrey that deleting messages from Milly’s mailbox caused “real confusion” in the early stages of the inquiry. Officers thought they were investigating a murder and were diverted by the possibility that Milly might still be alive and accessing her mailbox. But they also missed a clue when in April 2002 the NoW ran a story that included details of a message left on Milly’s phone.
Was hacking practised at only one newspaper?
At the moment the inquiry is focused on the NoW, but police have shown that they will go where the evidence leads them. Three NoW journalists have been arrested and bailed pending further inquiries.
Last month police widened their net when they arrested a reporter from the Press Association. The Information Commissioner published a report in 2006 revealing that a wide range of publications used the services of private detectives to access private information.
One private investigator, Steve Whittamore, had been used by 305 journalists from 32 publications. The list of customers was topped by the tabloids: the Daily Mail, Sunday People, Daily Mirror, The Mail on Sunday, News of the World and Sunday Mirror.
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But The Observer was also a key customer and one former journalist from The Times used his services twice. The BBC’s Panorama programme has admitted using them but has insisted that such activities are legal and strictly controlled.