From: "Andy" <as-AT-spelthorne.ac.uk>
Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 13:16:38 +0000
Subject: Welcome to new listeners


Did anyone else catch this in the Irish Times?


ENFOPOL 98: The European Union is laying the foundation for an
agreement that will allow law enforcement officials to eavesdrop on
Internet, fax and mobile phone conversations and will force the
communications providers to foot the bill.

The plan, known as Enfopol 98, was tabled behind closed doors by the
European Justice and Home Affairs Council in December. Its purpose is
to combat serious crime, such as drug trafficking, child abuse and
terrorism.

But it has been criticised by the Green Party MEP, Ms Patricia
McKenna, for what she described as its "unacceptable" secrecy. "This
has not been discussed in either the European Parliament or in the
parliaments of the member countries," she said.

What concerns MEPs is that there is no clear definition of what
constitutes a serious crime, and that law enforcement officials do not
have to obtain a court order before an interception.

"Anybody or any company involved in any crime can be tapped," said Mr
Tony Bunyan, director of Statewatch, the London-based civil liberties
group. "It's simply at the discretion of the police officer
concerned."

Enfopol will enable police to track and record email and mobile phone
calls across international boundaries through real-time remote access
points or backdoors.

For instance, Internet service providers must provide police forces
with access to their computer systems so that they can track email
traffic.

The agreement also includes a memorandum of understanding between
Europe, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway. So law
enforcement officials from any of these states can eavesdrop on each
other's citizens.

In a parliamentary question time earlier this month, Ms McKenna asked
the Justice Commission to debate the matter openly before agreeing to
measures that will have such a widespread impact on the privacy of EU
citizens.

"I also asked the Commission what exact legal redress is available to
citizens should they wish to challenge these rules," said Ms McKenna.
"But I did not get an answer."

Enfopol is similar to the controversial US wire-tap legislation known
as the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act or CALEA.
Because of its controversial nature, CALEA has been languishing on the
desk of the US Federal Communications Commission since 1994.

The legislation, developed with the assistance of the FBI, will be
part of the EU's Draft Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance.

Commission officials told the Parliament on January 12th that Enfopol
was simply a technical update to 1995 EU terrestrial wiretap
legislation. However, the extraordinary powers afforded by new
technology and the inclusion of nonEuropean states gives this
legislation a wider scope than any previous law.

"We only know about this because the Enfopol 98 document was leaked to
a German Internet magazine Telepolis," said Ms McKenna.

Under the current plan Internet service providers and the operators of
satellite based telecommunications companies such as Iridium and
Globalstar must also track targets where ever they travel.

They must give police the target's full name, address and account
details such as credit card and personal identification numbers.

The agreement will operate on the principle that all encrypted
messages should be capable of being broken.

"I have no objection to the police force monitoring serious
criminals," said Mr Glyn Ford, a British Labour MEP and a member of
EU's Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs Committees. "But what is
missing here is accountability, clear guidelines as to who they can
listen to and in what circumstances these laws apply."

At present police are required to obtain permission in each country
they wish to monitor and are therefore accountable to the local
judicial system.

"I don't think there is anybody in England or Ireland who could not
think of several cases where the police abused their power," said Mr
Bunyan. 


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>AS