PRIVACY INTERNATIONAL has written to the government’s investigatory powers commissioner asking him to investigate if the police have been unlawfully hacking British citizens’ phones.

The campaign group wrote to Lord Justice Fulford earlier this week over police forces’ use of intrusive mobile phone extraction technology, raising concerns that it involves the “interception of communications” or “equipment interference” — in other words, hacking.

Privacy International asked the commissioner to conduct an urgent review into police use of the technology and assess if there is a proper legal basis for its use.