Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (c. 25) – Section 226BA – Category authorisation
Sections
Section 226BA[F1Category authorisation
(1) In this Part “a category authorisation” is an authorisation that authorises a category of bulk personal datasets described in the authorisation for the purposes of this Part.
(2) The head of an intelligence service, or a person acting on their behalf, may grant a category authorisation where—
- (a)they consider that section 226A applies to any dataset that falls within the category of datasets described in the authorisation, and
- (b)the decision to grant the authorisation has been approved by a Judicial Commissioner.
(3) A category authorisation may describe a category of bulk personal datasets by reference to (among other things) the use to which the datasets will be put.]
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
- F1 Pt. 7A inserted (14.10.2024) by Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Act 2024 (c. 9), ss. 2, 32(2); S.I. 2024/1021, reg. 2(b)
https://ipa.digiphile.law/article/article-226BA.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.