Season One Research Files
Episode Five
4:00am-5:00am
PHONE TAPPING
In October 1994, Congress took action to protect public safety and national security by enacting the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act. The law further defines the existing statutory obligation of telecommunications carriers to assist Law Enforcement in executing electronic surveillance pursuant to court order or other lawful authorization.
CALEA is about access, not authority. CALEA does not expand Law Enforcement's fundamental statutory authority to conduct electronic surveillance. It simply seeks to ensure that after Law Enforcement obtains the appropriate legal authority, telecommunications carriers will have the necessary capability, and sufficient capacity, to assist Law Enforcement in their surveillance, regardless of their specific systems or services.
Law enforcement must show that they need the data and that it is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation. But getting at the contents of a call is a different matter. A judge will not grant a warrant unless 1) the cops can show that the call is related to a specific crime, 2) that they have "probable cause" to believe that a crime is or will be committed by the person making the call, and 3) that the warrant will be effectual in getting communications related to the crime.
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