Silence on full extent of phone tapping

Malta’s telecommunications operators were conspicuous last week by their reluctance to reply to queries put forward by MaltaToday on the provision of equipment and data to the authorities.
Questions directed at the operators - Maltacom, Vodafone and go mobile – were answered by redirections to the Malta Communications Authority (MCA), in its capacity as the relevant authority.
The MCA last week confirmed that mobile telecom carriers are obliged to "…furnish to competent authorities the data and equipment needed to accomplish their lawful interception requirements…" as provided for in ‘condition four’ of their licences.
Asked to qualify and quantify the extent to which these activities are carried out by the operators, both Maltacom and go mobile were reluctant to comment, while Vodafone did not get back to MaltaToday .
As opposed to the requirements that have been placed on the telephony providers, licences issued to Internet Service Providers, "do not include conditions similar to those issued to mobile operators," according to the MCA.
The Authority adds, "With regard to telecommunications operators offering mobile, fixed telecommunications and cable services and systems, the licensing conditions, as detailed in the relevant legal notices, provide for such an inclusion."
Last week MaltaToday reported that the expensive equipment in question is given to the state gratis by the operators, as per their licences, and is based in Floriana in care of the secret service.
Additionally, the authorities’ practice of phone tapping has increased over recent months and the spectrum of targets has widened from that of only those involved in crime.
However, despite a hesitance to put their clients’ confidentiality at risk, telecom operators have no choice but to comply with the terms of their licenses by providing the secret service with specific client details and hi-tech surveillance technology.