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Lawful Interception
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Governments all over Europe are examining possibilities of providing the security services sweeping
powers to intercept e-mails and monitor traffic on the Internet. As soon as the "Regulation of
Investigatory Powers" Bills become law, every Internet service provider will be required to install a link
to the security services, which will then be able to monitor Internet traffic. Security services will be able
to find out which websites users visit, which pages they download, and which chat rooms or discussion
groups they frequent.
In addition, the bill can give governments the power to demand the surrender of keys to encrypted
data - a fact which has been fiercely criticized by civil liberties and business organisations alike.
Campaigners believe that there are not sufficient legal possibilities to make governments accountable
for their actions: 'There's very little protection. There's no recourse if your information has been
pilfered by the Government, and even if it comes to light there is very little you can do.' says Tim
Berners-Lee, one of the fathers of the world wide web.
He is also concerned that third parties will be unable to monitor the authorities' actions: 'Is there any
way the press can ever find out to what extent this is happening? Is there any independent agency
which has the right to follow up every request and find out statistically to what extent some of these
things were just abuses of power?'
It is no question that lawful interception plays a crucial role in helping law enforcement agencies to
combat criminal activity. Lawful Interception of public telecommunications systems in each country is
based on national legislation in that country. The European Telecom Standards Institute ETSI works
on standards which facilitate the lawful interception in compliance with the national and international
conventions and legislation. But the new Lawful Interception Bills might do serious damage to both
business and civil liberties.
Source:
http://www.observer.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,330725,00.html
http://www.etsi.org/technicalactiv/li.htm
http://futurezone.orf.at/futurezone.orf...
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