The National Technical Assistance Centre

The National Technical Assistance Centre (NTAC) is responsible for providing the intelligence and law enforcement communities with:

• Access to lawful interception capabilities
• Assistance with recovering data from items that have been seized
• Technical Advice on interception, data recovery, and digital forensics to wider government and the private sector

NTAC was founded in 2001, initially as part of the Home Office becoming part of GCHQ in 2006, and over nearly a quarter of a century has made significant contributions to a range of national security and law enforcement priorities.

There are nine UK agencies that can apply for interception warrants issued under section 19 of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016. They are:

• GCHQ
• The Secret Intelligence Service
• The Security Service
• The Ministry of Defence
• Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs
• The National Crime Agency
• The Metropolitan Police Service
• The Police Service of Northern Ireland
• The Police Service of Scotland

NTAC manages the delivery of lawfully intercepted communications to bodies that have obtained the necessary legal authorisations in place to permit this activity. NTAC is also a national technical authority for the exercise of powers provided to authorised officials by Part III of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and described in chapter three of the Code of practice for investigation of protected electronic information).

Due to the nature of its work, NTAC is at all times subject to rigorous established independent external oversight mechanisms.

Like the rest of GCHQ, NTAC can only navigate the challenges and opportunities posed by an ever-changing world by having the right mix of minds. Its goal is to continue to build a diverse and inclusive workforce made up of highly-skilled, innovative and well-supported people based in Cheltenham, London and Manchester.