LONDON — Government snooping into phone networks is extensive worldwide, one of the world’s largest cellphone companies revealed Friday, saying that several countries demand direct access to its networks without warrant or prior notice.
The report from Vodafone, which covers 29 countries in Europe, Africa and Asia, provides the most comprehensive look to date at how governments monitor mobile phone communications. It amounts to a call for a debate on the issue as businesses increasingly worry about being seen as worthy of trust.
In six countries, authorities require immediate access to an operator’s network — bypassing legal niceties like warrants, Vodafone said. It did not name the countries for legal reasons and to safeguard employees working there.
The appendix reveals that Albania, Egypt, Hungary, Ireland, Qatar and Turkey have provisions that allow authorities to request unfettered access.
“In those countries, Vodafone will not receive any form of demand for lawful interception access as the relevant agencies and authorities already have permanent access to customer communications via their own direct link,” the report said.
Vodafone’s report comes one year after former NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden revealed that U.S. and other countries’ intelligence agencies routinely gathered huge amounts of private data belonging to millions of innocent people in America and across the globe.
The revelations have focused particular attention on the role of Western technology and telecommunications firms, which stand accused of facilitating the mass surveillance by giving spies unrestricted access to their networks.
“Companies are recognizing they have a responsibility to disclose government access,” said Daniel Castro with the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation in Washington. “This is new.”
The study comes as other businesses are also calling for a revamp of laws too outdated to stand up to the quickly changing telecommunications universe.
“For governments to access phone calls at the flick of a switch is unprecedented and terrifying,” said Shami Chakrabarti, director of the human rights group Liberty, adding that the Snowden revelations showed the Internet was already being treated as “fair game.”
“Bluster that all is well is wearing pretty thin — our analogue laws need a digital overhaul,” she said.
