QuickLinks - Interception

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Issue no. 350 - 4 December 2005

• EU - Brussels clinches data retention deal (EUobserver.com)
  EU justice and interior ministers have adopted a watered-down decision on data-retention in the fight against terror and organised crime. The stored data would detail the caller and the receiver's numbers - but not the actual conversations themselves. Member states will have to store the data for six to 24 months, but the deal does not state a maximum time period, cooling anger among member states with legislation on longer storage. The Polish justice minister was reassured that the Polish scheme for 15-year storage would be uncontested by the EU law. Justice ministers also agreed to disagree on possible compensation to the telecommunication industry for increased costs, leaving it up to each member state to conclude deals with their national telecommunication providers, as well as on what to with unanswered calls. See Council common position - Outcome of JHA Council (full text not available on Council Register site - draft published by Statewatch). see also EU - Vorratsspeicherung von TK-Daten: Die großen Fraktionen knicken ein (Heise).

Issue no. 340 - 23 June 2005

• EU - Commission to restrict data retention proposals (out-law.com)
  The European Commission is shortly to put forward proposals for EU data retention legislation that will limit the retention period to one year, Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding announced. Her remarks come a few days after an influential committee of the European Parliament recommended that the current proposals be rejected. MEPs are due to vote on the issue next week.

Issue no. 333 - 2 March 2005

• IT - GSM provider warns: too many wiretaps (EDRI)
  The Italian mobile operator TIM, one of the largest mobile phone companies in Italy has issued a unique warning that the number of wiretaps has reached the limit. In a fax sent to all Italian public prosecutors they say that they have already over-stretched their capacity from 5.000 to 7.000 simultaneously intercepted mobile phones. New requests now have to be processed on a 'first come first serve' basis, they write.

Issue no. 332 - 22 February 2005

• US - Court: Wife broke law with spyware (CNET News.com)
  by Declan McCullagh. A wife who installed spyware on her husband's computer to secretly record evidence of an extramarital affair violated state law. The Florida Appeals Court said that it is illegal and punishable as a crime under (state law) to intercept electronic communications. It barred the wife from revealing the contents of the intercepted conversations, and said the chat records could not be introduced as evidence in the unhappy couple's divorce proceedings.

Issue no. 322 - 17 October 2004

• US Funds Chat-Room Surveillance Study (AP)
  Amid the torrent of jabber in Internet chat rooms - are terrorists plotting their next move? The government certainly isn't discounting the possibility. It's taking the idea seriously enough to fund a yearlong study on chat room surveillance under an anti-terrorism program. A Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute computer science professor has obtained a $157,673 grant from the National Science Foundation's Approaches to Combat Terrorism program. It was selected in coordination with the nation's intelligence agencies.

Issue no. 317 - 22 August 2004

• DE - Wirtschaftsministerium will den kleinen Lauschangriff deutlich vergrößern (Heise)
  Der dreijährige Streit um die aktuelle Version der Telekommunikations-Überwachungsverordnung (TKÜV) steckt den betroffenen TK-Unternehmen, Wirtschaftsverbänden und Datenschützern noch fest in allen Gliedern -- da legt das Bundeswirtschaftsministerium schon wieder kräftig Zündstoff nach. Laut einem neuen Entwurf für das umkämpfte Paragrafenwerk, der heise online vorliegt, sollen die Betreiber öffentlicher Telekommunikationsanlagen nebst Internet-Providern künftig zum Abhören sämtlicher TK-Kennungen verdonnert werden. Das Spektrum würde demnach von IP-Adressen über Handy-Gerätenummern anhand der IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) bis zu kompletten Funkzellen oder WLAN-Hotpots reichen. Zudem will das Wirtschaftsministerium auf Betreiben des Justizressorts die Auslandsüberwachung ausweiten.

Issue no. 315 - 18 July 2004

• Resistance is Futile. Your e-Mail Is Being Watched. (Internetnews.com)
  A new study has confirmed what many a cubicle dweller has long suspected: Many companies, maybe even yours, are monitoring outgoing e-mails. According to a new survey conducted by Forrester Consulting and sponsored by Proofpoint Inc., a company that makes anti-spam and filtering software, more than 43 percent of corporations with more than 20,000 employees employ staff to monitor and read outbound e-mail. The survey of 140 corporate decision-makers found that companies' concern about employees leaking sensitive information via e-mail ranked as the biggest reason behind the snooping policy.

Issue no. 311 - 31 May 2004

• AU - Police to gain access to stored messages (ZDNet Australia)
  Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock has introduced amendments to federal parliament that would ease police access in the country to stored voice mails, e-mails and text messages. Ruddock said the Telecommunications (Interception) Amendment (Stored Communications) Bill would allow police to gain access to stored communications without a telecommunications interception warrant, as well as allowing access under 'other forms of lawful authority such as a search warrant.' see also NEWS.com.au | Ruddock tries snooping law again (News.com.au).

Issue no. 299 - 24 January 2004

• US - Easing of Internet Regulations Challenges Surveillance Efforts (New York Times)
  The Federal Communications Commission's efforts to reduce regulations over some Internet services have come under intense criticism from officials at law enforcement agencies who say that their ability to monitor terrorists and other criminal suspects electronically is threatened.

Issue no. 289 - 26 October 2003

• CH - La Suisse légalise son système d'espionnage des télécommunications (transfert.net)
  La Suisse vient de dévoiler officiellement son système de 'guerre électronique'. Baptisé Onyx, ce système autorise certaines autorités suisses à écouter, intercepter voire à brouiller des télécommunications étrangères, tant civiles que militaires. L'espionnage économique, ainsi que la surveillance des citoyens suisses, sont a priori exclus de ce système. Une autorité de contrôle indépendante (ACI) est chargée d'y veiller. Le système français équivalent ne bénéficie, quant à lui, toujours pas d'une telle assise légale, ni de tels garde-fous. Ordonnance sur la conduite de la guerre électronique.

Issue no. 288 - 19 October 2003

• UK - Legal threat to snooping laws (BBC)
  Internet privacy campaigners say new legal advice could blow a hole in Home Office plans to snoop on people's online and telephone activity. A draft European directive on keeping communications data, which could be used to strengthen the current voluntary code of practice in the UK, breeches human rights laws, says international law firm Covington & Burling. Two test cases may be taken to the European courts by lobby group Privacy International to show UK attempts to widen internet surveillance would be unlawful.

Issue no. 286 - 3 October 2003

• UK - Draft Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Communications Data) Order 2003 (HMSO)
  Specifies additional public authorities that are entitled to acquire communications data under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. See also Explanatory Memorandum.

Issue no. 283 - 14 September 2003

• UK - Government sweeps aside privacy rights (Guardian)
  Ministers in Britain were accused of conducting a systematic campaign to undermine the right to privacy as it emerged that a host of government departments, local councils and quangos are to be given the power to demand the communications records of every telephone and internet user. A draft order to be debated by MPs reveals that ministers want the list of organisations empowered to demand communications data to be expanded to include seven Whitehall departments, every local authority in the country, NHS bodies in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and 11 other public bodies ranging from the postal services commission to the food standards agency. Until now, the list included only police forces, the intelligence services, customs and excise and the inland revenue. see also 'Snoopers' charter' unveiled (BBC), Home Office Press Release and List of Statutory Instruments currently in force under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA).

Issue no. 281 - 31 August 2003

• Anti-Terrorism Laws and Data Retention: War is over? (Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly)
  by Clive Walker and Yaman Akdeniz. The Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 signals a determined response to the attacks of September 11th. One aspect involves the facilitation of the use of electronic surveillance in order to prevent, detect or prosecute the perpetrators of terrorism. The role of Part XI of the 2001 Act is to augment existing surveillance powers in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. This papers plots the relationships between those two statutes and also their relationship to data protection laws. Delays and difficulties in enforcement are noted and are related to a process of return to greater normality after an initial period of panic.

Issue no. 278 - 10 August 2003

• UK - Snooping goes hi-tech (BBC)
  Britain seems to be turning into a nation of electronic eavesdroppers. Research by security firm Symantec has shown that some people sneak a look at the text messages and e-mails of their partner if they suspect them of being unfaithful. They will also scour electronic address books for names they do not recognise or which look suspicious. Even at work many of those questioned would, given the opportunity, peek at confidential information about friends and colleagues they found on corporate networks.

Issue no. 276 - 23 June 2003

• UK - Blunkett shelves access to data plans (Guardian)
  Ministers were forced into a humiliating climbdown over plans to hand a host of public bodies the right to demand access to the communications records of telephone and internet users. Bowing to intense public and political pressure, David Blunkett, the home secretary, admitted that the government had 'blundered' into the issue as he announced that the proposals had been shelved to allow more consultation. see also Home Office retreat on RIPA - welcome but tip of the iceberg (Liberty).

Issue no. 274 - 9 June 2003

• US - Third Party Data Monitoring and Collection on the Internet: Is it Illegal Wiretapping? (FindLaw)
  by Anita Ramasastry. When - if ever - can third parties legally monitor your Internet activity? The answer is still unclear. However, a recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit provides at least some guidance. In provisions of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA), which expanded anti-wiretapping protections to include electronic communications. Under the ECPA, it is unlawful to intercept communications between two parties intentionally if neither consents to the interception. The Pharmatrak ruling shows that the ECPA has potential to protect privacy on the Internet, when privacy is violated by third party data collection. But the ECPA's limitations suggest that protection is far from complete.

Issue no. 272 - 24 May 2003

• UK - Scrambling for Safety 6 (FIPR)
  The Home Office caused huge controversy when it attempted to allow a long list of public authorities to access records of individuals' telephone and Internet usage without any judicial oversight, under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. There has also been ongoing argument about government powers to force telephone companies and Internet Service Providers to keep copies of such communications data. Under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. "Scrambling for Safety 6" brought together representatives from government, industry and human rights organisations to discuss the issues they raise with interested members of the public. Owen Blacker's notes. Access to communications data - respecting privacy and protecting the public from crime consultation paper on access to communications data provisions of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000) and Voluntary Retention of Communications Data under Part 11 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 about the voluntary retention of communications data. Communications Data: Report of an Inquiry by the All Party Internet Group (APIG)

• US - Alarm at Pentagon's email snooping (Guardian)
  Civil liberties groups raised their concerns about the Pentagon's plans for cyber-surveillance systems which would give the government access to private emails and medical, education, travel and financial records. The fears were expressed as the defence department reported on its plans for the total information awareness (TIA) programme. see also Pentagon Submits Report on Info Awareness Project (EPIC). On May 20, the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) submitted its congressionally-mandated report on the Total Information Awareness Program (TIA), now re-named the "Terrorism" Information Awareness Program. The name change, according to DARPA, was necessary because the original name "created in some minds the impression that TIA was a system to be used for developing dossiers on U.S. citizens." see also EFF review.

Issue no. 271 - 18 May 2003

• DE - Justizministerin bezeichnet Telefonüberwachung als maßvoll (Heise)
  Bundesjustizministerin Brigitte Zypries hat die Kritik des Bundesdatenschutzbeauftragten Joachim Jacob an der steigenden Zahl von Telefonüberwachungen zurückgewiesen. Die Telefonüberwachung habe sich als "unverzichtbares und effizientes Mittel" zur Strafverfolgung erwiesen, sagte Zypries bei der Präsentation eines Forschungsberichtes über Praxis und Nutzen der Überwachungsmethode. Jacob hatte in der vergangenen Woche kritisiert, es gebe keine Begründung für die wachsende Zahl der Überwachungen. siehe Pressemitteilung des Bundesjustizministeriums. Siehe auch Gutachten zur „Rechtwirklichkeit und Effizienz der Überwachung der Telekommunikation nach den §§ 100a, 100b StPO und anderer verdeckter Ermittlungsmaßnahmen" des Max-Planck-Instituts für ausländisches und internationales Strafrecht in Freiburg. siehe auch BMWA veröffentlicht Studie zur Überwachung der Telekommunikation in G7-Staaten (Pressemitteilung). Die WIK-Consult hat die Ergebnisse einer vom Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Arbeit in Auftrag gegebenen Studie zum Thema "Rechtlicher Rahmen für das Angebot von Telekommunikations-Diensten (TK-Diensten) und den Betrieb von TK-Anlagen in den G7-Staaten in Bezug auf die Sicherstellung der Überwachbarkeit der Telekommunikation" vorgestellt. Kurzfassung (PDF, 180 KB) Langfassung (PDF, 424 KB). siehe auch Telefonüberwachung kommt immer mehr in Schwung.

• UK - Extent of snooping revealed (BBC)
  Police and other officials in the UK are making around a million requests for access to data held by net and telephone companies each year, according to figures compiled from the government, legal experts and the internet industry. The findings were announced at a public debate into government proposals to widen powers for internet snooping held in London. But a Home Office spokesman disputed the figures, estimating that the number of requests were half that suggested. The requests include telephone billing data, e-mail logs and customer details, which privacy experts estimate could amount to a billion individual items of data, ranging from credit card numbers to numbers dialled. see also UK - Whistle blown over extent of UK data seizures (ZDNet UK).

Issue no. 268 - 28 April 2003

• AT - Surveillance law unconstitutional in Austria (out-law.com)
  A recent decision by Austria's Federal Constitutional Court says that the Austrian law that compels the country's telcos and ISPs to implement retention measures at their own expense is unconstitutional.

• Surveillance Nation - Part Two (MIT Technology Review)
  In pursuit of security and service, we are submitting ourselves to a proliferation of monitoring technologies. But a loss of privacy is not inevitable.

Issue no. 267 - 21 April 2003

• Inside Cisco's eavesdropping apparatus (CNET News.com)
  Cisco Systems has created a more efficient and targeted way for police and intelligence agencies to eavesdrop on people whose Internet service provider uses their company's routers.The company recently published a proposal that describes how it plans to embed "lawful interception" capability into its products. Among the highlights: Eavesdropping "must be undetectable," and multiple police agencies conducting simultaneous wiretaps must not learn of one another. If an Internet provider uses encryption to preserve its customers' privacy and has access to the encryption keys, it must turn over the intercepted communications to police in a descrambled form. Cisco's decision to begin offering "lawful interception" capability as an option to its customers could turn out to be either good or bad news for privacy.

• Les prestataires techniques maintenus à distance des courriers électroniques (Forum des droits sur l'internet)
  Un juge néo-zélandais et un juge français viennent à quelques semaines d´intervalle de statuer sur la conservation par des prestataires techniques de courriers électroniques reçus ou envoyés par leurs clients.

Issue no. 266 - 6 April 2003

• US - Online Phone Monitoring Sticky for FBI (AP)
  Wiretapping takes on a whole new meaning now that phone calls are being made over the Internet, posing legal and technical hurdles for the FBI. The FBI wants regulators to affirm that such services fall under a 1994 law requiring phone companies to build in surveillance capabilities. It is also pushing the industry to create technical standards to make wiretapping easier and cheaper.

Issue no. 263 - 16 March 2003

• UK - How to avoid the online snoopers (BBC)
  Where is the line to be drawn when it comes to protecting privacy and respected the law in the digital world, asks technology consultant Bill Thompson. There are in fact two consultations going on at the same time, and two separate laws being discussed. The first, RIPA, decides who gets to see what. The second, the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act, decides what data should be stored and for how long, on the sensible basis that access is only possible if the information is actually there to be looked at. Communication Data Consultation paper

Issue no. 260 - 23 February 2003

• UK - Government wins net villain award (BBC)
  The UK Home Office has been awarded the title of Internet Villain for a second time in a row at the internet industry's annual ISPA award ceremony. The Home Office was regarded by the judges as a worthy winner because of its confused and often contradictory policies on internet snooping laws, including the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security (ATCS) Act and continued delays associated with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA).

Issue no. 259 - 9 February 2003

• US - PATRIOT Act II Draft Online (Center for Public Integrity)
  The Center for Public Integrity has obtained the Justice Department's draft of PATRIOT II. The document, 120 pages long, consisting of section-by-section analysis and legislative languag and dated January 9, 2003, appears to be genuine.

Issue no. 258 - 2 February 2003

• UK - Government stands firm on snooping laws (BBC)
  The UK Government is determined to push ahead with its plans for internet snooping despite mounting opposition. A report from MPs on the All Party Internet Group (APIG), recommended that the government abandon plans to require internet service providers to store customer data for up to six years.

Issue no. 257 - 26 January 2003

• FR - Les parlementaires créent un accès direct aux données informatiques (Forum des droits sur l'internet)
  Les députés ont adopté le 16 janvier 2003 plusieurs amendements à la loi sur la sécurité intérieure (LSI) facilitant l’accès direct et la consultation à distance par les autorités judiciaires des données de connexion conservées notamment par les opérateurs de télécommunications.

• US - Senate limits Pentagon 'snooping' plan (CNET News.com)
  The U.S. Senate voted unanimously to slap restrictions on a controversial Pentagon data-mining program that critics say would amount to a domestic spying apparatus. By unanimous consent, the Senate inserted a moratorium on the program into a massive spending bill. The vote represents an unusual triumph of privacy concerns over the Bush administration's arguments that the Pentagon's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program would be useful for national security. If fully implemented, TIA would link databases from sources such as credit card companies, medical insurers and motor vehicle agencies in hopes of snaring terrorists.Letter from CDT and other civil liberties groups.

Issue no. 256 - 18 January 2003

• ICC - "Don't play Big Brother" is business plea to governments on Internet traffic (ICC)
  Business users and providers of communications services have called on the European Union and governments to scale down their storage requirements for traffic data to the minimum necessary to fight crime and terrorism. They have also warned governments that differing national data retention policies will make it impossible for communication service providers to operate effectively. Such inconsistencies would destroy the ability of service providers in countries with the most stringent requirements to compete internationally, a statement by International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) corporate experts said. see Policy statement on the impact of Internet content regulation (ICC) Commission on E-Business, IT and Telecoms.

• US - ACLU Spooked by Domestic Spying (Wired)
  The American Civil Liberties Union's new report Bigger Monster, Weaker Chains: The Growth of an American Surveillance Society, by Jay Stanley and Barry Steinhardt, warns that a combination of technological innovation and weakened privacy protections is "feeding a surveillance monster that is growing silently in our midst." GPS, biometrics, cameras, wireless communication, implantable microchips and other systems that identify, track and record people's activities need to be held in check by legislation to protect Americans' privacy rights, the report argues.

• US - Pentagon database plan hits snag on Hill (CNET News.com)
  A Pentagon antiterrorism plan to link databases of credit card companies, health insurers and others - creating what critics call a "domestic surveillance apparatus" - is encountering growing opposition on Capitol Hill.

Issue no. 255 - 6 January 2003

• US - "Total Information Awareness" and other anti-terrorism strategies for the Internet (Findlaw)
  by Anita Ramasastry. During 2003, we are likely to see the development of two new government initiatives to use computer technology in terrorism prevention. Each will give the government greater access to Internet data. One relates to a new federal network-monitoring center, described in the government's September draft of its National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace. The other is the Orwellian sounding Information Awareness Office, which will be engaged in a project aimed at "Total Information Awareness." Both are cause for concern..

• US - Tech's answer to Big Brother (News.com)
  by Declan McCullagh. Why is everyone so surprised that the U.S. government wants to create a Total Information Awareness database with details about everything you do? This is an unsurprising result of having so much information about our lives archived on the computers of our credit card companies, our banks, our health insurance companies and government agencies.

Issue no. 254 - 15 December 2002

• UK - ISPs spell out true cost of data retention (ZDNet UK)
  ISPs say the true cost of storing individuals' communications data as required by the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act (ATCS) that was rushed through parliament in 2001, will cost far in excess of the £20m estimated by the Government. Giving evidence at the All Party Parliamentary Group (APIG) public inquiry, AOL's director of public policy Camille de Stempel, said it would cost about £30m just to set up the systems for AOL alone, and the same again in running costs. Clive Feather, an Internet expert at ISP Thus who also gave evidence, said AOL's figure of 36,000 CDs was if anything an underestimate of the scale of the problem.

Issue no. 253 - 8 December 2002

• DE - Wirtschaftsministerium will Telekommunikationsüberwachung ausweiten (Heise)
  Die Wirtschaft ist empört über einen neuen Entwurf des Bundeswirtschaftsministeriums zur Novelle des seit Jahren umstrittenen Telekommunikationsgesetzes (TKG). Stein des Anstoßes ist vor allem die überarbeitete Fassung der berühmt-berüchtigten Überwachungsparagraphen 88 und 90, die von der Industrie und von Medienpolitikern seit langem kritisiert werden. Die neue Version, die heise online vorliegt, soll deutlich ausgeweitete Verpflichtungen bringen und bürdet Telekommunikationsanbietern pauschal die Übernahme aller Kosten für staatliche Überwachungsmaßnahmen auf.

• ICC - says 'Don't play Big Brother' to governments (Europemedia)
  Business users and providers of communications services have called on the European Union and governments to scale down their storage requirements for traffic data to the minimum necessary to fight crime and terrorism. They have also warned governments that differing national data retention policies will make it impossible for communication service providers to operate effectively. ICC statement on storage of traffic data for law enforcement purposes.

Issue no. 252 - 30 November 2002

• DE - Jedem Bundesland sein Lauschgesetz (Heise)
  Amtliche Abhörer und Mitleser werden keine bundesweit einheitliche gesetzliche Ausgestaltung für ihre Arbeit bekommen - und selbst die technischen Anforderungen, die in puncto Überwachungsmaßnahmen an die zur Zusammenarbeit mit den Behörden verpflichteten Zugangsvermittler gestellt werden, könnten auf unbestimmte Zeit je nach Bundesland divergieren

• EU - Council - Answers to questionnaire on traffic data retention (EFFI)
  Leaked but apparently authentic and extremely interesting.

Issue no. 251 - 24 November 2002

• US - Pentagon Defends Database Search Project (AP)
  The Pentagon defended an anti-terrorism technology experiment that critics have likened to domestic spying on the financial transactions of ordinary citizens. Pete Aldridge, the chief of technology for the Defense Department, told reporters that the project is intended to test whether new computer tools can comb through masses of information - such as credit card and bank transactions, car rentals and gun purchases - and spot clues to the planning of terrorist acts. see also Pentagon defends 'Big Brother' plans (MSNBC) 11/20/2002,

Issue no. 248 - 27 October 2002

• EU - Retention of telecommunication traffic data (FIPR)
  Statement of the European Data Protection Commissioners at the International Conference in Cardiff (9-11 September 2002) on mandatory systematic retention of telecommunication traffic data. PDF. see also Danish Presidency's questionnaire on traffic data retention (Consilium) and EU Member States' answers to the questionnaire (Unofficial publication of a room document).

Issue no. 247 - 19 October 2002

• How mobile phones let spies see our every move (Observer)
  Secret radar technology research that will allow the biggest-ever extension of 'Big Brother'-style surveillance in the UK is being funded by the Government. The radical new system, which has outraged civil liberties groups, uses mobile phone masts to allow security authorities to watch vehicles and individuals 'in real time' almost anywhere in Britain.

• US - DOJ responds to House on Patriot Act (CNET News.com)
  The public got a look at the most extensive report to date on how the U.S. Justice Department has used a 2001 anti-terrorism law to conduct Internet and electronic surveillance. In four letters to Congress, totaling 61 pages, Assistant Attorney General Daniel Bryant said the USA Patriot Act has "provided critical assistance to the efforts of the department and the administration against terrorists and spies in the U.S." Powers awarded to federal police by the act have made it easier to obtain court orders to spy on cable-modem users, Bryant said. The act has also made it possible for FBI field offices to install wiretaps at Internet companies that are not in their jurisdiction, he said. In addition, airlines now receive full access to the FBI's list of suspected terrorists through a secure Internet site.

Issue no. 244 - 7 September 2002

• DE - Online-Demonstration gegen TKÜV und Vorratsspeicherung von Verbindungsdaten (Heise)
  Zum Jahrestag der Terroranschläge vom 11. September wollen Online-Bürgerrechtsaktivisten im Internet gegen die kürzlich in Kraft getretene Änderung der Telekommunikationsüberwachungsverordnung und die geplante Vorratsspeicherung von Verbindungsdaten demonstrieren. Anders als bei früheren Gelegenheiten wollen die Initiatoren dieser Online-Demonstration allerdings keine virtuelle Blockade einer Website durchführen. Unter dem Motto "we shall overload statt we shall overcome" soll ein Skript vielmehr "Datenmüll für die Überwachungsstellen" produzieren.

• EU - Press release on the retention of traffic data (Danish Presidency)
  Based on a report from the organisation Statewatch, there has over the past few days been rumours in certain parts of European press of imminent EU-rules on the retention of telecommunication traffic data and the access to such data. In this connection it has been suggested that the Danish Presidency of the European Union has tabled a proposal for binding rules on such retention, The proposal that was made available on the Council website (ue.eu.int) contains a request that within the very near future binding rules should be established on the approximation of Member States' rules. The proposal contains no detailed indications as to what the contents of such rules should be. see Questionnaire on traffic data retention 11490/1/02 REV 1.

Issue no. 243 - 31 August 2002

• CA - Will ISPs become spies? (CNET News.com)
  The Canadian government is considering a proposal that would force Internet providers to rewire their networks for easy surveillance by police and spy agencies. see Lawful Access - Consultation Document (Department of Justice, Canada)

• EU - Privacy fear over plan to store email (Guardian)
  Records of personal communications, including all emails and telephone calls, will be stored for at least a year under a proposal to be decided by EU governments. Under the plan, all telecommunications firms, including mobile phone operators and internet service providers, will have to keep the numbers and addresses of calls and emails sent and received by EU citizens. The information, known as traffic data, would be held in central computer systems and made available to all EU governments. see leaked documents EU: data retention to be "compulsory" for 12-24 months (Statewatch) .

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