Part 1: General Privacy Protections Section 13: Mandatory use of equipment interference warrants
This section requires that equipment interference conducted by the intelligence service must be authorised under the Act where the purpose of the interference is to obtain communications, private information or equipment data, in circumstances where the intelligence service considers that the conduct may constitute one or more offences under sections 1 to 3A of the Computer Misuse Act 1990, and there is a connection to the British Islands.
	Subsection (2) defines a British Islands connection, establishing that there will be such a connection in circumstances where:
the proposed activity would take place in the British Islands (regardless of where the equipment to be interfered with is located). When an intelligence service is operating from the British Islands, they must use this Act to authorise their activity, even if the equipment itself leaves or does not enter the British Islands; or
the intelligence service believes that any of the equipment to be interfered with may be located in the British Islands at some point during the interference taking place. For example, this would include circumstances where a computer is located in the British Islands or is carried by someone transiting through the British Islands at the time the interference is taking place; or
the purpose of the interference is to enable the acquisition of the private information relating to, or the communications sent to or from, a person believed to be in the British Islands (or the connected equipment data).
	Subsection (3) clarifies that where the conditions in subsection (1) are not met, an intelligence service may still apply for an equipment interference warrant. The Codes of Practice will give examples of the circumstances in which the intelligence services may decide to do so.