For at least years running, British immigration officials have been allowed to hack the phones of refugees and asylum seekers, including rape and torture victims.

Such a stunning revelation has sparked widespread outrage, including from civil rights groups and advocates for rape victims, both of whom vehemently argue such latitude could greatly undermine lawyer-client confidentiality in any immigration or asylum related proceedings.

Since 2013, the Home Office admits immigration authorities have been allowed to "property interference, including interference with equipment," which can include planting a listening device in a home, car or detention center, as well as the hacking of phones or computers.

Powers Authorized Through Police Act of 1997

Such powers were authorized through an amendment to the Police Act of 1997. It's estimated that as many as 700 UK border patrol agents are privy to such powers.

"For far too long, vague and outdated legislation has been exploited to extend the Home Office's powers," said home affairs spokesman Alistair Carmichael "No parliamentarian would have ever foreseen immigration officers having the powers to hack into our smart-phones and computers of potentially quite vulnerable people."

Researchers have found that torture victims have been regularly held in detention centers, and rape victim advocates also point to statistics that suggest up to 70 percent of all women held in such facilities are sexual assault survivors.

"These powers are an outrage," said Cristal Amiss of the Black Women's Rape Action Project. "People in detention have the right to confidentiality, to speak privately to their lawyer and disclose often very sensitive information such as details of rape, torture, domestic violence and alleged abuse by officials. They have to be able to share private information without their phones being hacked."

Home Office Officials Defend Practices

Meanwhile, Home Office officials insist the aim "is to ensure that immigration officers can deploy a full range of investigative techniques to deal effectively with all immigration crime".

The hacking revelation adds to the growing concerns many feel about the government's potnetial abuse of power stemming from the latest version of the "snooper's charter," which allows police broader powers in accessing the web browsing histories of many criminal suspects.