write a summary about this text The case concerned three applications that were filed in Big Brother Watch and Others v. the United Kingdom (no. 58170/13); Bureau of Investigative Journalism and Alice Ross v. the United Kingdom (no. 62322/14); and 10 Human Rights Organisations and Others v. the United Kingdom (no. 24960/15).

The applications were filed by a mix of NGOs, non-profits, academics and journalists and were submitted after Edward Snowden (a former US National Security Agency contractor) exposed the exploitation of surveillance and intelligence sharing programs by the US and UK national intelligence services. With regard to the UK, these revelations indicated that the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) was running an operation, codenamed TEMPORA, that allowed it to tap into and store huge volumes of data drawn from underwater cables (or “bearers”). This is referred to as the bulk interception of communications, which allowed GCHQ to store bulk data that it could then filter through the use of selection criteria and then examine.

The applicants believed that the UK intelligence services had likely intercepted or obtained their electronic communications. In particular, they alleged that their data had likely been obtained through a number of surveillance techniques: (1) the bulk interception of communications under section 8(4) of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA)/TEMPORA; (2) intelligence sharing with foreign governments; and (3) the obtaining of communications data from communications service providers (Chapter II of RIPA).

In all three cases the applicants contended that these measures violated their right to respect for private life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (Convention). However, the applicants only alleged a further violation of the right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the Convention in the second and third cases.

Big Brother Watch and Others v. the United Kingdom (App. no. 58170/13)

The applicants were three NGOs (Big Brother Watch, Open Rights Group, and English PEN) and an academic (Dr. Constanze Kurz) working in the fields of privacy and freedom of expression. They sent a pre-action protocol letter to the Government in 2013 complaining about the incompatibility of national law with the Convention. However, the applicants did not bring legal proceedings before the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) which was indicated by the Government in its letter as a remedy for the applicants.

The applicants complained that they were likely subject to surveillance by the GCHQ intercepting and/or obtaining their electronic communications. As a result, they claimed a violation of Article 8 of the Convention since the surveillance activities were not “in accordance with the law”. The applicants argued that there was no legal basis for the receipt of information from foreign intelligence agencies and that the activities constituted a disproportionate interference with their right to privacy. In doing so, the applicants complained about the lack of control and safeguards in relation to the circumstances in which the UK intelligence services could process their intercepted data.