Governments intercepting citizens' telephone conversations

Vodafone has accused governments of playing the role of… Big Brother. The world's second-largest mobile phone company said that government agencies in a small number of countries in which it operates have direct access to its network, which gives them the ability to intercept all telephone communications on its networks.

Control over security services around the world, and particularly in the US and Britain, has been strengthened since Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency consultant, revealed to newspapers the extent of their surveillance.

Snowden's revelations caused international uproar, as it appeared that the surveillance programs implemented by American and British agencies included telephones and electronic communications of ordinary citizens.

Vodafone today released a "Disclosure Report" in which it states that, while in many of the 29 countries in which it operates, government agencies need a court order to intercept its customers' communications, there are some countries in which such a warrant is not required.

The 40,000-page report is the most comprehensive overview to date of how governments monitor the conversations and movements of their citizens, notes the British newspaper "The Guardian".

Vodafone states in this report that it cannot provide a complete picture of all the requests it receives because in some countries it is illegal to disclose this information.

"In a small number of countries, the law dictates that specific services and authorities can have direct access to a mobile service provider's network, bypassing any form of operational control by the provider over the legality of the interceptions," the company says.

Vodafone did not name the countries where this could happen, but in the document it calls on governments to amend legislation so that interceptions can only be carried out with legal justification.

Source: newsbeast.gr