| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | CONTACT: |
Jim Dempsey CDT Senior Staff Counsel Email: jdempsey@cdt.org or Graeme Browning CDT Communications Dir. Email: gbrowning@cdt.org Phone: 202-637-9800 |
WASHINGTON, May 20, 1998 -- The 1994 Communications Assistance for LawEnforcement Act (CALEA) was only 'intended to preserve a minimum lawenforcement surveillance capability in the face of technological change'and was not meant 'to serve as the basis for mandated expansions in thatcapability,' the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) argued in amajor filing with the Federal Communications Commission today.
CALEA is the latest chapter in the 30-year history of federal wiretap laws,which have always sought to balance constitutional privacy protections andlaw enforcement interests, CDT argued in the comments it filed with theCommission today. The law calls for the telecommunications industry tocomply with its terms by Oct. 25, 1998. But disputes between the industryand the FBI over the implementation of CALEA became so contentious thatearlier this year CDT, the FBI, telecommunications industry associationsand individual companies filed petitions with the FCC raising concerns overa number of issues. In response, the Commission issued a notice April 20soliciting public comment on the implementation of CALEA.
Responding to the Commission's May 20 deadline for comments on the privacyissues inherent in CALEA's implementation, CDT argued that electronicsurveillance capabilities have been subject to both technological and legallimitations since Congress first passed legislation on the issue in 1968.Both in that year and in 1994, when CALEA was passed, 'the question forCongress was whether wiretapping should be available to law enforcement atall,' CDT said. 'Congress in both cases decided that the technique shouldbe available, but it crafted a legislative scheme intended to balance theinterests of law enforcement and privacy.'
The FCC has a 'pivotal' role in ensuring that Congress' historical balanceis applied to technologies that form the basis for a wide variety of newcommunications services, CDT argued. CDT's challenge highlights twotechnologies - wireless location information and packet network services -that are at the very heart of the digital communications revolution,because:
Expansions in surveillance capability in recent years have come about as aresult of business needs or market-driven developments,' CDT argued. 'Inthe future, there will be others. CALEA does not prohibit thesesurveillance enhancing developments, if they come about as a result ofbusiness needs or market forces. If they are available, law enforcement cantake advantage of them. But the government cannot mandate them É' CDT askedthe FCC, instead, to narrowly interpret the CALEA requirements and preventthe imposition of capabilities that would upset the fundamental balance atthe heart of the Act.
The Center for Democracy and Technology, a non-profit organization, isdedicated to developing public policy solutions that advance civilliberties and democratic values in the new computer and communications media.