The police requested access to domestic communications data 733,237 times between 2012 and 2014. That’s 670 requests a day. Or one request every two minutes.

Only 4% of requests for data were refused.

The figures obtained by Big Brother Watch show that police have been helping themselves willy nilly to the details of of citizens’ internet history, phones calls, emails and texts. Tellingly, police forces vary widely in the amount of communications data requests they internally refuse. Essex Police refused 28% in that time period while Chester Constabulary refused 0.1%. Of course, all requests were necessary and proportionate..