Adds Home Affairs Ministry, Vodafone Malta, PN, AD's statements

Telecommunications giant Vodafone has revealed the existence of secret wires which allow government agencies the ability to listen on live conversations on its entire network.

Vodafone said the practice is commonplace in some of the 29 countries it operates in. The disclosure was made on in its Law Enforcement Disclosure Report which it launched today, exactly a year since the rattling disclosures of whistleblower Edward Snowden, who revealed widespread surveillance of the internet by US intelligence agencies.

Malta is one of a number of European countries where communications firms are even barred from discussing what sort of spying capability is available to the government’s intelligence agency, the Malta Security Service (MSS).

“This means that we cannot really say if these direct wires exist on the Maltese network but if they do, the implication is that the MSS has direct access,” an industry source said. “The telecommunications companies would not even know that the tapping is taking place.”

The MSS is governed by a specific law which requires the agency to obtain written consent from the Home Affairs Minister before carrying out tapping of any kind.

Though Vodafone took the initiative to disclose the information, their revelation holds for all other telecommunications companies.

On top of the possibility of Malta’s intelligence agency having direct access to their networks, in 2006, Malta’s telecoms firms were required to install, at their own expense, interception devices that enable the monitoring of all communication channels be they land-line, mobile telephony, e-mail or internet.

However, in this case, the government’s policing agencies need to go through the companies themselves with a written request for information in each and every case of tapping.

According to data gathered by the Guardian newspaper today in Malta 3,773 such requests were processed last year. It’s one of the highest among the countries reproduced on the list but a far cry from Italy’s 600,000 plus requests.

Moreover, the bulk of these cases are normally related to the location of mobile phones in cases of theft and loss of the device itself, for instance, or in criminal investigations where the police would be trying to establish the whereabouts of a suspect at a particular date in time.

The practice has been used in murder cases to establish that a suspect was at the scene of the crime when the victim was killed.

Home Affairs Ministry statement

The Home Affairs Ministry said in a statement that the 3,773 requests referred to by the Guardian referred in their majority to police investigation requests relating to crimes. Only a very small number were requested by the Security Services.

Vodafone Malta statement

Vodafone Malta said in a statement it worked within the Maltese legal system which oblighed all mobile operators in the same way.

It provided information to law enforcement agencies upon receiving a written demand from the law the agencies to this as it was legally obliged to do.

It said that the 3,773 requests shown in the table referred to the formal demands made by law enforcement agencies to Vodafone as part of on-going police investigations. These related to crimes such as phone thefts, anonymous calls, homicides and other criminal investigations.

In the large majority of cases demands received by law enforcement agencies were in response to reports initiated by the public.

Vodafone Malta said legal interception, which was not done by Vodafone or by any operator, was not factored in the aggregate figure of 3,773. This was separate and carried out in accordance with the law.

PN statement

Nationalist spokeswoman Kirsty Debono said the statistics issued by the report was alarming and should be of concern to Maltese who used their mobile phone.

She said that the report indicated that authorities in Malta could have access to telephone calls or messages by the flick of a switch without the need for a warrant.

This was leading to 37 per cent more calls than in the UK being tapped in Malta.

AD statement

Alternattiva Demokratika said it was unlawful in Malta to disclose any information related to wiretapping or interception of the content of phone calls and messages even when such capabilities exist.

Henrik Piski, spokesperson for digital society, said once again it has been revealed that the right for privacy has been breached by governments. The right of privacy is a fundamental right which cannot be breached.

Chairman Arnold Cassola said the government had to do some explaining on why so many thousands of citizens had been eavesdropped through Vodafone alone.

It said it was unacceptable that the orders for such eavesdropping were authorised by the minister as it was only an independent member of the judiciary that should be allowed to grant permission for such cases when the request is founded.