Introduction

I am starting this blog to discuss lawful interception, otherwise known as legal "wiretapping" and in the US, "CALEA". CALEA stands for Carrier Assistance for Law Enforcement Act. This was an act signed by the US Congress during the mid 1990s to require communications carriers to help law enforcement in their investigations of criminal conduct. It was motivated by the widespread uptake of cellular phone services and deployment of digital networks, both of which made the traditional wiretapping techniques obsolete.