http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8592597.stmGCHQ denies ' big brother' database claimsBy Gordon Corera
Security Correspondent, BBC News
Britain's biggest intelligence agency has denied claims it is building a vast database to store all communications.
GCHQ director Iain Lobban said its approach is "surgical" and that such a database would be "impossible".
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Some conspiracy theorists believe GCHQ has the technical facility to capture all email and telephone exchanges. Many websites speculate in great detail about the agency's supposed ability to track communications which involve certain key words.
But Ian Lobban denies such claims.
"There's no such database, no such access and it would be impossible anyway in my view," he says.
"Can we listen to everything? No we can't," he says, arguing that the organisation works along strict guidelines of proportionality and accountability.
"Do we try to listen to everything? No we don't."
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