‘Mass surveillance at its most severe’: Mobile phone giant reveals direct govt. wiretapping
By Andrea Germanos
IntelliHub.com
June 8, 2014
Mobile phone giant Vodafone revealed Friday that in some countries where it operates, governments have a direct and permanent link to their customers’ communications, allowing them “unfettered access” that allows for “uncontrolled mass surveillance.”
The UK-headquartered company made that information public in its first Law Enforcement Disclosure Report.
While stating that it respects its users’ right to privacy, the company adds that “in every country in which we operate, we have to abide by the laws of those countries which require us to disclose information about our customers to law enforcement agencies or other government authorities, or to block or restrict access to certain services.”
The report reveals 29 countries whose governments requested user data between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014, though Vodafone is prevented by law from revealing the number of such requests for some of those countries. The government requests could come in the form of wiretapping, also known as “lawful interception,” which Vodafone’s report calls “one of the most intrusive forms of law enforcement assistance.” The demands could also be for “communications data,” or metadata.
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