The spokesman added: "It does not cover the interception of contents, which will continue to be covered by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and require a warrant signed by the Secretary of State.
Illegal interception of the content of a message breaks your secrecy.
Anyone who followed that advice has nothing to worry about when it comes to interception of email content.
The proposed legislation would require that the same standards that apply to the interception of the content of telephone calls apply to the interception of e-mail messages.
This post-Snowden national security law will not only cover the snooper's charter legislation on tracking individual web and social media use, but also the security services' powers of bulk interception of the content of communications.
As well as enabling the tracking of internet and social media use, the legislation will also move to strengthen the security services' warranted powers for the bulk interception of the content of communications.
He credited the collection of US phone records' metadata and the interception of the content of foreign communications, saying both programmes helped disrupt a 2009 plot to bomb the New York City subway which would have been the worst attack since 9/11.
In Albania, Egypt, Hungary, India, Malta, Qatar, Romania, South Africa and Turkey, it is unlawful to disclose any information related to wiretapping or interception of the content of phone calls and messages including whether such capabilities exist.
May also underlined the "vital part" played by the security agencies' "bulk powers" – the mass collection and storage of everyone's communications data in Britain and the bulk interception of the content of communications of those based overseas to acquire intelligence.
The legislation will include not only the expected snooper's charter, enabling the tracking of everyone's web and social media use, but also moves to strengthen the security services' warranted powers for the bulk interception of the content of communications.
