|
Security agencies across the world, and in
particular in the United States and Britain, have faced greater
scrutiny since Edward Snowden, a former contractor with the U.S.
National Security Agency (NSA), disclosed the extent of their
surveillance to newspapers.
Snowden's disclosures caused an international uproar, showing
that U.S. and British agencies' monitoring programs took in
ordinary people's telephone and electronic communications.
Vodafone on Friday published a "Disclosure Report" which said
that while in many of the 29 countries in which it operates,
government agencies need legal notices to tap into customers'
communications, there are some countries where this is not the
case.
Vodafone said it could not give a full picture of all the
requests it gets, because it is unlawful in several countries to
disclose this information.
"In a small number of countries the law dictates that specific
agencies and authorities must have direct access to an
operator's network, bypassing any form of operational control
over lawful interception on the part of the operator," the
company said.
Vodafone has not named the countries where this can happen, but
in the document it calls on governments to amend legislation so
eavesdropping can only take place on legal grounds.
(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by David Holmes)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
