IP: U.K. Wants ISPs To Build In Interception

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> Date: Sun, 27 Jun 1999 01:07:21 +0200 (CEST)
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> Subject: U.K. Wants ISPs To Build In Interception
> To: cypherpunks () toad com
> Sender: owner-cypherpunks () toad com
>
> 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.