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Luminous Animal

(27,310 posts)
Fri Jun 6, 2014, 02:11 PM Jun 2014

Vodafone: governments use secret cables to tap phones

Government agencies are able to listen to phone conversations live and even track the location of citizens without warrants using secret cables connected directly to network equipment, admits Vodafone today

Government agencies are able to listen to phone conversations live and even track the location of citizens without warrants using secret cables connected directly to network equipment, admits Vodafone today.

The company said that secret wires have been connected to its network and those belonging to competitors, giving government agencies the ability to tap in to phone and broadband traffic. In many countries this is mandatory for all telecoms companies, it said.
Vodafone is today publishing its first Law Enforcement Disclosure Report which will describe exactly how the governments it deals with are eavesdropping on citizens. It is calling for an end to the use of “direct access” eavesdropping and transparency on the number of warrants issued giving access to private data.

The company said that the 29 countries it operates in have different laws that demand that they restrict or block certain access to customers, or allow governments to directly access information about them. Refusal to comply with those laws was “not an option”, it said, as those countries could then stop them from operating within its borders.

In some countries this means giving access to the content of phone calls and other electronic communications, or access to metadata such as the number of calls made, the numbers they were made to and the location of the caller when those calls were placed. In some countries, around six that Vodafone does business with but not including the UK, they are made to provide a "direct access" cable straight into their network to allow governments to siphon off any data they wish, without having to issue a warrant.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet-security/10880208/Vodafone-governments-use-secret-cables-to-tap-phones.html
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Vodafone: governments use secret cables to tap phones (Original Post) Luminous Animal Jun 2014 OP
This does not surprise me superpatriotman Jun 2014 #1
Link to the report.. Luminous Animal Jun 2014 #2

superpatriotman

(6,232 posts)
1. This does not surprise me
Fri Jun 6, 2014, 02:33 PM
Jun 2014

It is best to assume someone is always listening. Always watching.

RIP Chester Nez, last of the Navajo 'code talkers'



http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/06/05/chester-nez-last-of-the-world-war-ii-navajo-code-talkers-dead-at-93/?tid=hp_mm

Now if you could communicate like Chester; well that changes things.

Luminous Animal

(27,310 posts)
2. Link to the report..
Fri Jun 6, 2014, 03:15 PM
Jun 2014
http://www.vodafone.com/content/dam/sustainability/2014/pdf/operating-responsibly/vodafone_law_enforcement_disclosure_report.pdf

TRANSPARENCY AND THE LAW
This annexe to Vodafone’s Law Enforcement Disclosure report seeks to highlight some of the most important legal powers available to government agencies and authorities seeking to access customer communications across the 29 countries of operation covered in this report.

Whilst the legal powers summarised here form part of local legislation in each of those countries and can therefore be accessed by the public, in practice very few people are aware of these powers or understand the extent to which they enable agencies and authorities to compel operators to provide assistance of this nature.

....

Our contribution to the debate

We would emphasise that individual countries’ legislation will not always fall neatly under one of these three categories and this annexe therefore should not be read as a comprehensive guide to all potentially relevant aspects of the law in any particular country. However, in seeking to adopt a consistent approach across 29 countries, we hope that this section of the report will serve as a useful framework for further analysis in future.

As part of our commitment to ensuring this important debate is fully informed, we are making this annexe available under a Creative Commons license and by doing so hope others will re-use and build upon this material to aid greater transparency in this area.
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