CALEA (Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act)

A 1994 law granting law enforcement agencies the ability to wiretap new digital networks and requiring wireless and wireline carriers to enable surveillance equipment use in digital networks. (Cingular)

The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) is a controversial United States wiretapping law passed in 1994 (Pub. L. No. 103-414, 108 Stat. 4279). In its own words, the purpose of CALEA is:

To amend title 18, United States Code, to make clear a telecommunications carrier's duty to cooperate in the interception of communications for Law Enforcement purposes, and for other purposes.

CALEA was passed on October 25, 1994 and came into force on January 1, 1995.

Provisions of CALEA

The U.S. Congress passed the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) to aid law enforcement in its effort to conduct surveillance of citizens via digital telephone networks. The Act obliges telephone companies to make it possible for law enforcement agencies to tap any phone conversations carried out over its networks, as well as making call records available. The act also stipulates that it must not be possible for a person to detect that his or her conversation is being monitored by the respective government agency.

On March 10, 2004, the DOJ, FBI and DEA filed a "Joint Petition for Expedited Rulemaking" in which they requested certain steps to accelerate CALEA compliance. This petition mainly involved extending the provisions of CALEA to cover citizens' communications that travel over the internet. This resulted in the FCC issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking entitled "In the Matter of Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act and Broadband Access and Services" (FCC 04-187, 2004 WL 1774542) on August 9, 2004. The FCC received public comment and, in August 2005, adopted a "First Report and Order" concluding that CALEA applies to facilities-based broadband Internet access providers and providers of interconnected voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) services. The First Report and Order also sought public comment on whether other (non-interconnected) types of VoIP services should be covered by CALEA and on how the Commission should consider granting exemptions from CALEA's requirements. In May 2006, the FCC adopted a "Second Report and Order".

The Internet Engineering Task Force in 2000 decided not to consider requirements for wiretapping as part of the process for creating and maintaining IETF standards (RFC 2804).

CALEA is currently under appeal in federal court based upon a (lawsuit brought by EDUCAUSE) and a coalition of higher education and library organizations.

(Wikipedia)