From: believer@telepath.com Subject: IP: Cell phone tapping stirs debate Date: Sun, 25 Oct 1998 08:49:06 -0600 To: believer@telepath.com Source: USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/ctd698.htm 10/22/98- Updated 12:08 PM ET The Nation's Homepage Cell phone tapping stirs debate WASHINGTON -- Law enforcement officials say they need to know where a suspected criminal is when he makes a cellular telephone call. Federal regulators are proposing to give them the capability to find out. The Federal Communications Commission without dissent proposed Thursday that cellular phone companies make technical changes so the FBI, police and other law enforcers -- as long as a court approves -- can locate a person talking on a mobile phone. This and other additional wiretapping capabilities being proposed aim to help law enforcers keep pace with technology. With some 66 million cellular phone customers, police want the authority to legally tap cell phones to track down drug dealers, terrorists and kidnappers. But some groups worry that such a practice could violate privacy. The location proposal is part of a larger plan to implement a 1994 law that requires telecommunications companies to make changes in their networks so police can carry out court-ordered wiretaps in a world of digital technology. The proposal is based on a plan from the telecommunications industry. ''We think this is a positive step forward,'' said Stephen Colgate, the Justice Department's assistant attorney general for administration. ''In many kidnapping cases, it would have been very helpful to have location information.'' But James Dempsey, counsel to the Center for Democracy and Technology, a privacy group, said: ''We're prepared to fight this one every step of the way.'' FCC Chairman Bill Kennard stressed that police would have no access to locations without a court order. ''A lot of people are saying the FCC will turn mobile phones into tracking devices for the FBI and invade Americans' privacy. I don't believe that will be the case,'' Kennard said. With a court order, police already can legally listen in to cell phone conversations, and, in some instances, get information on the caller's location. But not every company has the technical ability to provide a caller's location. This proposal, if adopted, would set up a nationwide requirement for companies to follow. The legal standard for obtaining a location is lower than the standard for a wiretap order in which police must show a judge there is probable cause of criminal activity. Under the proposal, police would only need to show the location is relevant to an investigation. Privacy groups say that means the government could easily track the movements not only of a suspect, but also of associates, friends or relatives. It would give police the ability to obtain the cellular phone user's location at the beginning and end of a wiretapped call. The proposal would provide police with that information based on the cellular tower, or ''cell'' site, where a call originated and ended. That would give information on the caller's location within several city blocks in an urban area to hundreds of square miles in a rural area. The FBI had been seeking more exact location information. The FCC also is expected to tentatively conclude that companies must give police, as long as a court approves, additional capabilities -- beyond minimum technical standards already proposed by the industry -- so their ability to conduct wiretaps won't be thwarted. The additional capabilities being sought by the FBI that were advanced by the FCC include: Letting police listen in on the conversations of all people on a conference call, even if some are put on hold and no longer are talking to the target of a wiretap. Letting police get information when the wiretap target has put someone on hold or dropped someone from a conference call, and letting them find out if the wiretap target has used dialing features -- such as call waiting or call forwarding. Giving police the number dialed by a wiretap target when the suspect, for instance, uses a credit or calling card at a pay phone. Privacy groups and the telephone industry contend the additional capabilities sought by the FBI go beyond the 1994 law and are an attempt to broaden wiretapping powers. The FBI says it merely wants to preserve the ability to conduct legal wiretaps in a world of constantly changing technology. The FCC is involved because the Justice Department, FBI and the telecommunications industry, after three years of negotiations, were unable to reach agreement on the larger plan for implementing the 1994 law. All interested parties will get a chance to offer opinions on the proposal, which could be revised. Kennard wants a final plan adopted by the end of the year. ©COPYRIGHT 1998 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. ----------------------- NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. 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