Frequently
Asked Questions
What
is electronic surveillance?
Electronic
surveillance consists of either the interception of call content
(commonly referred to as wiretaps) and/or the interception
of call-identifying information (commonly referred to as dialed-number
extraction) through the use of pen registers and/or trap and
trace devices. Lawfully-authorized electronic surveillance
is considered to be an invaluable tool for Law Enforcement
in its fight against crime and terrorism.
In 1968,
Congress carefully considered and passed the Omnibus Crime
Control and Safe Streets Act, Pub. L. No. 90-351, 82 Stat.
212, which laid out the meticulous procedures Law Enforcement
must follow to obtain the necessary judicial authorization
to conduct electronic surveillance. The law was enacted after
Congress exhaustively debated issues concerning Law Enforcement's
need to effectively address serious criminal activity and
an individual's right to privacy.
In 1970,
Congress amended the federal wiretap statute to make clear
the duty of service providers and others to provide Law Enforcement
with the technical and other assistance necessary to accomplish
the intercept.
In 1978,
Congress passed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
(FISA), 50 U.S.C. §§ 1801-1843, to safeguard national security
by authorizing select government agencies to conduct electronic
surveillance of a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power
for the purpose of obtaining foreign intelligence information.
In 1986,
as a result of developments in telecommunications and computer
technologies, Congress found it necessary to enact the Electronic
Communications Privacy Act, Pub. L. No. 99-508, 100 Stat.
1848, which amended the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets
Act by broadening its coverage to include electronic communications
(including email, data transmissions, faxes, and pagers).
The provisions
of Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets
Act, as amended, continue to govern the U.S. procedures for
obtaining legal authority for initiating and conducting lawful
interceptions of wire, oral, and electronic communications.
What
are the U.S. criminal electronic surveillance laws?
- 18
U.S.C. 2510 - 2522[18c119.pdf - MISSING] - Wire and Electronic Communications
Interception and Interception of Oral Communications
- 18
U.S.C. 3121 - 3127[18c206.pdf MISSING] - Pen Registers and Trap and Trace
Devices
What
is CALEA?
In October
1994, Congress took action to protect public safety and national
security by enacting the Communications
Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (CALEA), Pub. L.
No. 103-414, 108 Stat. 4279. The law further defines the
existing statutory obligation of telecommunications carriers
to assist Law Enforcement in executing electronic surveillance
pursuant to court order or other lawful authorization and
requires carriers to design or modify their systems to ensure
that lawfully-authorized electronic surveillance can be performed.
What
is the purpose of CALEA?
The purpose
of CALEA is to preserve the ability of Law Enforcement to
conduct electronic surveillance in the face of rapid advances
in telecommunications technology. Further details can be found
at H.R. Rep. No. 103-827, 103d
Cong., 2d Sess.(1994), reprinted in 1994 U.S.C.C.A.N. 3489
Who
must be CALEA-compliant?
All telecommunications
carriers as defined by Section 102(8) of CALEA. Basically,
this includes all entities engaged in the transmission of
switching of wire or electronic communications as a common
carrier for hire.
What
is "call-identifying information?"
Section
102(2) of CALEA defines call-identifying information as "dialing
or signaling information that identifies the origin, direction,
destination, or termination of each communication generated
or received by a subscriber by means of any equipment, facility,
or service of a telecommunications carrier."
What
is "call content?"
Defined
in 18 U.S.C. 2510(8) it is an intercept "when used with
respect to any wire or electronic communications, includes
any information concerning the substance, purport, or meaning
of that communications."
What
is a "safe harbor" under CALEA?
Section
107(a)(2) of CALEA contains a "safe harbor" provision,
stating that "[a] telecommunications carrier shall be
found to be in compliance with the assistance capability requirements
under Section 103, and a manufacturer of telecommunications
transmission or switching equipment or a provider of telecommunications
support services shall be found to be in compliance with Section
106 if the carrier, manufacturer, or support service provider
is in compliance with publicly available technical requirements
or standards adopted by an industry association or standard-setting
organization, or by the FCC under subsection (b), to meet
the requirements of Section 103."
What
is J-STD-025A?
Subcommittee
TR-45.2 of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA),
along with Committee T1 of the Alliance for Telecommunications
Industry Solutions, developed interim standard J-STD-025 to
serve as a CALEA standard for wireline, cellular, and broadband
PCS carriers and manufacturers. The standard defines services
and features required by wireline, cellular, and broadband
PCS carriers to support lawfully-authorized electronic surveillance,
and specifies interfaces necessary to deliver intercepted
communications and call-identifying information to a law enforcement
agency.
What
are the Punch List technical requirements?
On August
30, 1999, the FCC found that J-STD-025 was deficient in certain
technical respects and remanded the standard to TR-45.2 for
revision. The additional requirements (commonly referred to
as "punch list" items) must be implemented June
30, 2002, and are stated in the FCC
Third Report and Order 99-230, and the Order
on Remand, FCC 02-108 as:
1) Provide
the content of subject-initiated conference calls supported
by the subject's service (including the call content of parties
on hold).
2) Identify the active parties of a multiparty call.
3) Provide access to all dialing and signaling information
available from the subject including a subject's use of features
(such as the use of flash-hook and other feature keys).
4) Notify the law enforcement agency when a subject's service
sends a tone or other network message to the subject or associate
(e.g., notification that a line is ringing or busy).
5) Provide timing information to correlate call-identifying
information with the call content of a communications interception.
6) Provide digits dialed by a subject after the initial call
"cut-through" is completed to another carrier.
Are
packet-mode communication technologies covered by CALEA?
CALEA
is technology neutral in its coverage. A telecommunications
carrier remains subject to CALEA whether it uses packet-mode
or any other technology.
What
CALEA responsibilities do telecommunications equipment manufacturers
have?
Under
CALEA, a manufacturer of telecommunications transmission or
switching equipment and a provider of telecommunications support
services shall, on a reasonably timely basis and at a reasonable
charge, make available to the telecommunications carriers
using its equipment, facilities, or services such features
or modifications as are necessary to permit such carriers
to comply with the assistance capability requirements and
the capacity requirements.
The FBI
has implemented a reimbursement strategy that will allow many
telecommunications carriers to receive CALEA software at no
charge for certain high priority switching platforms. Under
nationwide right-to-use (RTU) license agreements, the Government
pays for the development of CALEA software solutions for certain
high priority switching platforms. This allows carriers to
receive CALEA software at a nominal charge for equipment,
facilities, or services installed or deployed now and in the
future.
To date,
the FBI has signed agreements with AG Communications Systems,
Lucent Technologies, Motorola, Nortel Networks, and Siemens
AG for technical solutions developed to meet the assistance
capability requirements of CALEA. When considered in
total, these agreements result in software solutions being
available for the vast majority of Law Enforcement's priority,
pre-January 1, 1995 switches.
Which
carriers are eligible to be reimbursed for assistance capability?
CALEA
authorized $500 million for the reimbursement of carriers
for reasonable costs associated with making equipment, facilities,
and services compliant with the requirements of CALEA. Equipment,
facilities, and services installed or deployed on or before
January 1, 1995, may be eligible for such reimbursement, provided
the equipment, facility, or service has not been replaced,
undergone a significant upgrade or undergone a major modification.
By
what date must CALEA be implemented?
| Date |
Requirement |
| June
30, 2002 |
All
assistance capability requirements deadline. |
| November
19, 2001 |
Packet-mode
communications assistance capability deadline. |
| March
12, 2001 |
Capacity
requirements deadline for local exchange, cellular, and
broadband PCS telecommunications carriers. |
Does
CALEA provide for extension of the compliance dates?
Yes. Under
Section 107(c) of CALEA, a carrier is permitted to file one
or more petitions with the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) for an extension of the Section 103 assistance capability
deadlines. The maximum extension the FCC may grant under this
provision is two years. The FCC is required by statute to
"consult" with the Attorney General prior to deciding
whether or not to grant an extension.
The FBI
has developed a flexible deployment arrangement with carriers,
thereby fulfilling its consultative role for the Attorney
General. Flexible deployment is the FBI's overall CALEA
implementation approach, which includes supporting telecommunications
carriers' deployment of CALEA-compliant solutions in accordance
with their normal generic upgrade cycles - where such deployment
will not delay implementation of CALEA solutions in areas
of high priority to Law Enforcement.
Are
there other sources of information about CALEA online?
Although
there are numerous news sources that provide journalistic
information regarding CALEA, there are two other official
sources of CALEA information online, they are: the Department
of Justice and the Federal
Communications Commission.
Has
anyone ever conducted any research on CALEA implementation?
In July
1995, the United States Congress Office of Technology Assessment
published Electronic Surveillance
in a Digital Age to review the progress of the industry
and of law enforcement agencies in implementing CALEA since
its approval in October 1994. This paper is a valuable
research tool, which provides historical information about
electronic surveillance and the difficulties associated with
conducting surveillance in the digital age.
Does
anyone keep track of electronic surveillance statistics?
The Omnibus
Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 requires the Administrative
Office of the United States Courts (AO) to report to Congress
the number and nature of federal and state applications for
orders authorizing or approving the interception of wire,
oral, or electronic communications. The Wiretap
Report covers intercepts concluded during each calendar
year, and provides supplementary information on arrests and
convictions resulting from intercepts concluded in prior years.
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