Telecommunications carriers electronic surveillance contacts - Technology Update - Brief Article

FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin,The, August, 2003

The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), Section 105, and various rulings of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) require telecommunications carriers to submit company compliance manuals regarding their respective "systems security and integrity" policies and procedures. One important aspect of those policies and procedures is the identification of telecommunications carrier-designated points of contact (POCs) responsible for liaison with the law enforcement community to facilitate lawfully-authorized electronic surveillance on their networks.

To assist the law enforcement community with conducting lawfully-authorized electronic surveillance, an on-line database containing this information is currently available. The FBI's Electronic Surveillance Technology Section (ESTS) has developed a carrier contacts database to provide this information to the law enforcement community. The carrier contacts database contains telecommunications carrier-designated POCs that are: 1) submitted to the FCC by telecommunications carriers in their respective CALEA Security Compliance Manuals, 2) given directly to the ESTS by telecommunications carriers, or 3) received from the law enforcement community.

The carrier contacts database is available on-line via the AskCALEA.net Web site. Follow the link from the home page to the AskCALEA Law Enforcement Forum (https://sw.askcalea.net). If not already registered, take a few minutes to request on-line access to nearly 1,500 telecommunications carrier contacts. Please contact the ESTS with any questions or updates to contact information.

Federal Bureau of Investigation Electronic Surveillance Technology Section 14800 Conference Center Drive, Suite 300 Chantilly, Virginia 20151-3810

Email: news@askcalea.net

Telephone: 800-551-0336

Outside the United States: 703-814-4700

Fax: 703-814-4750