Vodafone has published its first Law Enforcement Disclosure report, which explains how the company responds to official requests for assistance in 29 countries. Not only is it Vodafone’s first such report, it’s also thought to be the first of its kind published anywhere in the world.
The report contains country-by-country data on the volume of demands made by government authorities. However, it also notes that some countries require specific agencies and authorities to have direct access to an operator’s network, which means a formal demand isn’t required for individual cases. In addition, some countries prevent operators from disclosing any information about the demands they’ve received.
This first report covers information for the year to 31st March 2014 and will be updated at least annually in the future. It covers all 29 operating businesses directly controlled by Vodafone in which the company received a lawful demand for assistance.
In the UK, Vodafone is prohibited from revealing the existence of any authorised interception warrant. UK government figures show that a total of 2,760 interception warrants were issued to various communications service operators during 2013, along with 556,901 other written and oral requests for communications data.
[Vodafone 2014 Law Enforcement Disclosure report; 2013 Annual Report of the UK Interception of Communications Commissioner (pdf)]