Legal Interception of Mobile Phones : Issues and Policy Implications

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Legal Interception of Mobile Phones Issues and
Policy Implications

• Dr. Aravind Chaturvedi, Additional Supdt Of
  Police
• Special Task Force, UP Police, Lucknow, India
• 91-9838503310 aravindchat_at_gmail.com

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Summary

• Need for Lawful Interception
• Challenges faced with the Evolution of Mobile
  Technologies/Generations- 2G, 2.5G, 2.75G, 3G, 4G
• Standardization of LI facilities
• Legal provisions in USA, UK, INDIA
• Issues and Policy Implications
• Comprehensive Interception Capabilities
• Reliability and Integrity
• Immediate Activation and real time responsiveness
• Decryption
• Complete Logging of events

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Need

• Telecommunication has become an essential part of
  our lives. Education, business, government, other
  organizational activities, family relations
  largely bank on telecommunications in someway or
  the other.
• The same telecommunication services are used to
  perpetuate terrorism, threat, intra and
  inter-national criminal networks, disruptions in
  the internal and external security of nations.
• Hence, with the growth of Mobile technology
  Generations, telecommunication operators ability
  to ensure Lawful Interception (LI) has become
  more important than ever.

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4G
GSM EDGE
GSMGPRS
GSM VAS
2G
1G
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Status of Mobile Technologies/Generations

• Tele Presenting
• Tele Presenting
• Distance Learning
• Knowledge based network
• operations
• United service network
• Rich Content Transmission
• Speed Upto 100 Mbps

• Best technology
• Phone call/fax
• voice mail
• send receive large email messages
• Web browsing
• Navigation / maps
• News updates
• Speed 64 144 kbps
• GPRS, cdma2000 1x

1G networks NMT, C-Nets, AMPS, TACS first analog
cellular systems, started early 1980s.
4G
3G
2.5G
2G
1G

• Combines a mobile phone, laptop and TV
• Features
• Phone call/fax
• global roaming
• High-speed web
• Videoconferencing
• TV streaming
• Speed 144 kbps 2Mbps
• UMTS FDD and TDD, cdma2000 1x EVDO,

• Digital mobile phone
• Features
• Phone call
• voice mail
• SMS
• Speed 10kbps
• GSM, CDMA

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Evolution Path of 3G
UMTS
GSM
GPRS
EDGE
GSM 900 GSM 1800
2G
2.5G
3G
2.75G
0.3842 mbps
9.6 kbps
64115 kbps
115384 kbps
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2G Network Architecture
LIM
CALL SET UP
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3G UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications
System Network Architecture
LIM
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Lawful Interception

• Lawful Interception (LI) describes the lawfully
  authorized interception and monitoring of
  telecommunications pursuant to an order of a
  government body, to obtain the forensics
  necessary in a case.
• It is a need that has existed from the times of
  short-range telegraphy to todays world spanning
  Next-Generation Networks (NGNs).
• I will focus on the technical concepts underlying
  LI, initiatives by International bodies for its
  standardization and related Issues.

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LI Lawful Interception

• Lawful interception (LI) data generally consist
  of 
• Intercept Related Information IRI or Call Data
  including called/calling parties, time of call,
  duration , direction, location, IMEI, IMSI and so
  on
• Call Content CC, the content of the
  communications.
• If the data are not obtained in real-time, the
  activity is referred to as access to retained
  data (RD).
• WITH THE CHANGE IN TECHNOLOGY, CONTENTS OF IRI
  SHALL CHANGE

FIRST KNOWN LI
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LI Lawful Interception

• Typically, a national Law Enforcement Agency
  (LEA) issues an order for LI to a specific
  network operator, access provider, or network
  service provider, which is obliged by law to
  deliver the requested information to a Law
  Enforcement Monitoring Facility (LEMF).

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Organizational flow chart for Lawful Interception
Law Enforcement Agency (LEA)
LI ORDER
Network Operator Access Provider Service
Provider
Law Enforcement Monitoring Facility (LEMF)
REQUESTED INFORMATION
LIM
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International bodies

• The establishment of the International
  Telecommunication Union (ITU) on 17 May1865
  (originally named International Telegraph Union)
  was closely linked with the invention of the
  telegraph.
• Since those days ,ITU treaties provide the legal
  basis for lawful interception forensics
  incorporated into the national legislation of
  many countries.
• It is the technical implementation of two
  opposing requirements secrecy and forensics

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Standardization of LI facilities

• The legal and regulatory requirements for the
  production of forensics may vary from country to
  country but most requirements remain common.
• The principal global forums for specifying the
  requirements as well as specific Standards for LI
  are
• the European Telecommunication Standards
  Institute (ETSI)
• Technical Committee on Lawful Interception (TC
  LI)
• 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

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Lawful Interception Standards published by ETSI

• ES 201 158 Requirements for Network Functions
• TS 102 234 Service-specific details for Internet
  access services
• TS 102 233 Service-specific details for e-mail
  services
• TS 101 331 Requirements of Law Enforcement
  Agencies
• TR 102 053 Notes on ISDN lawful interception
  functionality
• TR 101 944 Issues on IP Interception

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Interception Laws Global View

• USA
• FISA Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act 1978
• CALEA Communications Assistance for LEA Act 1994
• USA PATRIOT Uniting and Strengthening America by
  Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept
  and Obstruct Terrorism Act 2001 (Law in 2006)
• UK
• RIPA Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
• EC
• 96/C/329/01 Resolution of 17th Jan 1995

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Sec 3(1AA) of Indian Telegraph Act

• Telegraph
• Any appliance, instrument, material or
  apparatus used or capable of use for
• transmission or reception of
• signs, signals, writing, images and sounds or
  intelligence of any nature
• by wire, visual or other electro-magnetic
  emissions, Radio waves or Hertzian waves,
  galvanic, electric or magnetic means
• Talks about HARDWARE, ACTIVITY, CONTENT AND
  TECHNOLOGY

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Sec 5(2) of Indian Telegraph Act

• Any officer specially authorized by the Central
  Government or a State Government may, in the
  interest of
• sovereignty and integrity of India
• the security of the State
• friendly relations with foreign states
• public order
• for preventing incitement to the commission of an
  offence,

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Sec 5(2) of Indian Telegraph Act

• may order that
• any message or class of messages
• to or from any person or class of persons, or
• relating to any particular subject,
• brought for transmission or
• transmitted or
• received by any telegraph,
• shall not be transmitted, or
• shall be intercepted or detained, or
• shall be disclosed to the officer mentioned in
  the order.

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Criteria for Interception

• UK-RIPA
• in the interests of national security
• preventing or detecting serious crime
• safeguarding the economic well-being of the UK
  or
• of giving effect to the provisions of any
  international mutual assistance agreement.

• USA-18 U.S. Code 2518
• murder, kidnapping, robbery, extortion, bribery,
  child molestation, narcotics offences, crimes
  against national security, and any offence
• USA- PATRIOT
• Terrorism
• Computer fraud and abuse offences

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Issues and Policy Implications

• TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES OF LI WHICH MOST OF THE
  LEAs MANDATE
• Comprehensive Interception Capabilities-
  intercept all applicable communications of a
  target
• Reliability and Integrity- ensure accurate result
  with the highest level of data integrity
• Immediate Activation and real time responsiveness
• Decryption- Encrypted data should be delivered in
  plain text by the operator
• Complete Logging of events- all LI related
  activities/parameters must be recorded in
  standard format

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Few more Issues

• With the exhaustion of IPv4 in most of the
  countries, ISPs are using NATed( Network Address
  Translation) structures to use ONE public IP to
  share with hundreds of private IP allottees
  distinguishing with port numbers. But none of the
  recipient servers capture port number.
  Consequently, there is complete miss-match
• DoT has come up with a new circular on IPDR in
  Oct 2013
• VODA CDR

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Last but not the least

• National law making bodies should understand the
  need of LEAs and specify the criteria for
  interception. RIPA- detection of crime
• INDIA- for preventing incitement to the
  commission of an offence

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Thank you.

• Dr. Aravind Chaturvedi,
• Additional Supdt of Police
• Special Task Force, UP Police,
• Lucknow, India
• 91-9838503310
• aravindchat_at_gmail.com