-Caveat Lector-
Technology News
U.K. Wants ISPs To Build In Interception
(06/25/99, 3:40 p.m. ET)
By Duncan Campbell, TechWeb
The British government has become the first in Europe
to
openly propose internationally agreed requirements for
ISPs
to build technology into networks that would allow for
police
surveillance.
Under proposals for changes to the Interception of
Communications Act announced by the Home Office this
week, all communications service providers (CSPs)
would be
required to build interception software or hardware
into their
systems.
The law -- if passed -- will apply to all types of new
communications services, including Internet telephony,
TV
conferencing, paging, and satellite based personal
communications systems.
The International User Requirements have been drawn up
over
the past six years by a group founded by the U.S. FBI,
called
the International Law Enforcement Telecommunications
Seminar (ILETS), which meets in secret. The group
excludes
representatives from industry or civil rights
organizations, and
has attempted to standardize its objectives as an
International
Telecommunication Union requirement.
According to this week's "white paper," every type of
network
will be covered, including VPNsoperated through the
Internet or other TCP/IP systems. The new law will
also cover
interception of business telecom services, ranging
from basic
networks of a few lines found within a small office to
large
networks linking offices, in both the public and
private sectors,
the document says.
Under the present British Interception of
Communications Act,
only licensed public telecom operators have to provide
government tapping facilities within their networks.
However,
ISPs must surrender any stored communications data
they
have, including e-mail, Web-access records, and
service
details, if served with an order.
Home Secretary Jack Straw now proposes all CSPs be
required
to take reasonable steps to ensure their system is
capable of
being intercepted.
"This will be an ongoing requirement CSPs will have to
consider each time they develop their network or
introduce
new services," Straw said. "CSPs will also be required
to
provide reasonable assistance to effect warranted
intercepts."
This will include real-time access to data about their
subscribers and information about services they have
used,
including logs of telephone calls, e-mail, or website
accesses.
A key part of technical arrangements to be made will
ensure
operators will not be able to know what information
has been
copied from their systems.
The British government said the new law would make
full
provision for human-rights legislation, Straw said.
But according to Madeleine Colvin of Justice, the
international
human-rights organization and British section of the
International Commission of Jurists, the proposed law
would
not achieve this.
"There are major gaps in what these proposals suggest
for
controlling surveillance methods. For example, how is
anyone
to know if their human rights may have been abused if
they are
never going to be told that their e-mail has been
intercepted by
the government?" he asked.
Related Stories:
Europe Votes For ISP Spying Infrastructure
Report: U.S. Uses Key Escrow To Steal Secrets
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