State security makes the most of its new competences

State security and military intelligence services used new techniques on 1,789 occasions between September 2010 and December 2012 in order to acquire information, it transpires from figures from the standing control committee for intelligence and security published today in De Tijd. State security and military intelligence services received three new competences in September 2010, allowing them to use traditional methods of investigation, such as a requesting information from other bodies, but also more specific ones, such as the tapping and tracing of phone calls and the opening of mail items, or even more exceptional ones such as house searches and the creation of bogus companies as covers. State security has made the most use of the new techniques, with 135 out of 1,590 mandates for exceptional reasons. The intelligence and security watchdog intervened on  77 occasions between September 2010 and December 2012; in 50 cases, it ruled that the methods used by the services were disproportionate. Operations were suspended 19 times and partially cancelled in 31 cases.