Part 3: Authorisations for obtaining communications data Section 61: Power to grant authorisations
This section provides the power for relevant public authorities to acquire communications data. Communications data is the ‘who’, ‘when’, ‘where’ and ‘how’ of a communication, but not its content, and is defined in sections 261 and 262 of the Act. An authorisation can be granted where a designated senior officer in a relevant public authority is content that a request is necessary for one of the 10 purposes set out in subsection (7) and proportionate to what is sought to be achieved. Communications data cannot be acquired for any other purposes and only certain authorities can use certain purposes, as outlined in Schedule 4.
	Subsection (4) provides for some of the conduct which an authorisation may permit for the purpose of acquiring communications data. For example conduct to acquire communications data may involve:
serving a notice on a telecommunications or postal operator that requires them to disclose the relevant data;
serving a notice on a telecommunications or postal operator that requires them to obtain and then disclose the relevant data;
a relevant public authority acquiring the data directly from an operator through a secure auditable system; or
a relevant public authority acquiring the data directly from a telecommunications system.
	An authorisation cannot authorise any conduct which requires the interception of the content of a communication or requires the interference with any equipment on a telecommunications network.
	Subsection (5) provides that an authorisation may cover data that is not in existence at the time of the authorisation. This allows a relevant public authority to request communications data on a forward looking basis in respect of a known subject of interest. It also provides that an authorisation can authorise the disclosure of communications data by a communications service provider through a secure auditable system.
	Subsection (8) makes explicit that legitimate trade union activity would never be sufficient grounds, of itself, for a communications data authorisation to be considered necessary.