Police Port of Liverpool Police Royal Mail Secret Intelligence Service Security Service Serious Fraud Office Welsh Government (for the purposes of the NHS Directorate, NHS Finance Division, Common Agricultural Policy Management Division and Care Standards Inspectorate for Wales) a territorial police force or special police force Directed surveillance The reasons for which the use of directed surveillance is permitted vary with each authority. Refer to the legislation for more specific information. Health & Safety Executive Information Commissioner His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools in England (for the purposes of the Complaints, Investigation and Enforcement Team) General Pharmaceutical Council Controversy Critics claim that the spectres of terrorism, internet crime and paedophilia were used to push the act through and that there was little substantive debate in the House of Commons. The act has numerous critics, many of whom regard the RIPA regulations as excessive and a threat to civil liberties in the UK. Campaign group Big Brother Watch published a report in 2010 investigating the improper use of RIPA by local councils. Critics such as Keith Vaz, the chairman of the House of Commons home affairs committee, have expressed concern that the act is being abused for "petty and vindictive" cases. Similarly, Brian Binley, Member of Parliament (MP) for Northampton South has urged councils to stop using the law, accusing them of acting like comic strip detective Dick Tracy. The Trading Standards Institute has been very critical of these views, stating that the use of surveillance is critical to their success (see TSI press release ). The "deniable encryption" features in free software such as FreeOTFE, TrueCrypt and BestCrypt could be said to make the task of investigations featuring RIPA much more difficult. Another concern is that the Act requires sufficiently large UK Internet Service Providers to install technical systems to assist law enforcement agencies with interception activity. Although this equipment must be installed at the ISPs' expense, RIPA does provide that Parliament will examine appropriate funding for ISPs if the cost burden became unfairly high. Accusations of oppressive use In April 2008, it became known that council officials in Poole put three children and their parents under surveillance, at home and in their daily movements, to check whether they lived in a particular school catchment area. Council officials carried out directed surveillance on the family a total of 21 times. Tim Martin, the council's head of legal services, had authorised