"Vodafone reveals scale of government snooping" by Danica Kirka | Associated Press June 07, 2014
LONDON — Government snooping into phone networks is extensive worldwide, one of the world’s largest cellphone companies revealed Friday, saying that several countries demand direct access to its networks without warrant or prior notice.
The detailed report from Vodafone, which covers the 29 countries in which it operates in Europe, Africa, and Asia, provides the most comprehensive look to date at how governments monitor mobile phone communications. It amounts to a call for a debate on the issue as businesses increasingly worry about being seen as worthy of trust.
Wiretapping of phones and accessing of call records for law-enforcement purposes is a decades-old and accepted practice even in the most open democracies. With backing from courts, police can request cooperation from phone companies, a valuable tool for the pursuit of criminals.
But the most explosive revelation in Vodafone’s report is that in six countries, authorities require direct access to an operator’s network — bypassing legal niceties like warrants and eliminating the need to get case-by-case cooperation from phone company employees. It did not name the countries for legal reasons and to safeguard employees working there.
That would be the five eyes plus.... Israel?
‘‘In those countries, Vodafone will not receive any form of demand for lawful interception access as the relevant agencies and authorities already have permanent access to customer communications via their own direct link,’’ the report said. Vodafone would not say which countries have established these direct links. But in an exhaustively researched appendix to the report, the UK-based company sheds light on the legal frameworks that surround government interception in the 29 countries.
--more--"
