Investigatory Powers Act 2016IPA 2016UK · 2016 c. 25
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Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (c. 25) – Section 200 – Requirement for authorisation ...: general

Sections

Section 200Requirement for authorisation F1...: general

(1) An intelligence service may not exercise a power to retain a bulk personal dataset unless the retention of the dataset is authorised
  • (a)
    [F2] by a warrant under this Part [F3, or
  • (b)
    by an individual authorisation under Part 7A (low or no reasonable expectation of privacy) (see section 226B).]
(2) An intelligence service may not exercise a power to examine a bulk personal dataset retained by it unless the examination is authorised
  • (a)
    [F4] by a warrant under this Part [F5, or
  • (b)
    by an individual authorisation under Part 7A.]
(3) For the purposes of this Part, there are two kinds of warrant—
  • (a)
    a warrant, referred to in this Part as “a class BPD warrant”, authorising an intelligence service to retain, or to retain and examine, any bulk personal dataset of a class described in the warrant;
  • (b)
    a warrant, referred to in this Part as “a specific BPD warrant”, authorising an intelligence service to retain, or to retain and examine, any bulk personal dataset described in the warrant.
(4) Section 201 sets out exceptions to the restrictions imposed by subsections (1) and (2) of this section.

Amended text

This Section is shown as amended by Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Act 2024 (see the annotations below), as incorporated in the text in force on 7 October 2026 as published on legislation.gov.uk.

Annotations

Textual Amendments

  1. F1 Words in s. 200 heading omitted (14.10.2024) by virtue of Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Act 2024 (c. 9), ss. 1(4)(c), 32(2); S.I. 2024/1021, reg. 2(a)
  2. F2 Words in s. 200(1) renumbered as s. 200(1)(a) (14.10.2024) by Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Act 2024 (c. 9), ss. 1(4)(a)(i), 32(2); S.I. 2024/1021, reg. 2(a)
  3. F3 S. 200(1)(b) and word inserted (14.10.2024) by Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Act 2024 (c. 9), ss. 1(4)(a)(ii), 32(2); S.I. 2024/1021, reg. 2(a)
  4. F4 Words in s. 200(2) renumbered as s. 200(2)(a) (14.10.2024) by Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Act 2024 (c. 9), ss. 1(4)(b)(i), 32(2); S.I. 2024/1021, reg. 2(a)
  5. F5 S. 200(2)(b) and word inserted (14.10.2024) by Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Act 2024 (c. 9), ss. 1(4)(b)(ii), 32(2); S.I. 2024/1021, reg. 2(a)

Commencement Information

  1. I1 S. 200(1)(2)(4) in force at 22.8.2018 by S.I. 2018/873, reg. 3(c)
  2. I2 S. 200(3) in force at 25.7.2018 by S.I. 2018/873, reg. 2(j) (with reg. 8)

https://ipa.digiphile.law/article/article-200.html

Text as at 7 October 2026.

This is an unofficial convenience version of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016. It is presented “as is” without guarantee of accuracy, completeness or reliability. See the source text for the official version. This site was last updated in October 2026.

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