Telecom Forum – February 2016: Law Regulation and Enforcement Flexible or over-compliant: The role of telecommunications operators in electronic law enforcement Dr Rob Nicholls, UNSW Business School

Issues Formal relationship between law enforcement agencies and telecommunications operators Law enforcement liaison units within telecommunications operators Delivery of metadata Delivery of content Denial of access The risk of “capture”

Formal relationship between agencies and operators 3 Ongoing Request Warrant or order HI1 HI2 HI3 Contract, regulation, legislation Telecommunications metadata or IRI Content of message Network operator Law enforcement agency ETSI model of “handover interfaces”

Law enforcement liaison units within operators Operator Customer interface Law enforcement agency Operations Operator Legal, policy and governance Law enforcement agency Technical Liaison Unit

Delivery of metadata Lines of communications established before request Clarity on the face of the request Clear instructions or procedures for delivery Analysis responsibility lies with law enforcement agencies Need clear boundaries of authority for access to stored metadata and real-time metadata Independent and regular reporting on process including aggregated statistics annually from Attorney General (or equivalent)

Delivery of content Clarity on the face of the warrant or order Clear instructions or procedures for delivery Regular communications as to renewal or revocation of the warrant/order Independent and regular reporting on process: –Attorney General (or equivalent) on facts –Ombudsman on process

Denial of access Who is responsible for crime prevention? Limits on the reasons for denial of access Example using website takedown or filter: –Crime – what level of crime? –Culture – what are the cultural norms? –Religion – who is the relevant authority? –Civil wrongs – Telco or web host as target? All issues can be solved by a rules-based process – but rules can be inflexible when new threats are identified

Clear rules Rotation of staff Reinforcement of operator (rather than LEA) culture Understanding and communication with LEAs Regular training on legal obligations The risk of “capture” Law enforcement agency Operations Law enforcement agency Operations Law enforcement agency Technical Law enforcement agency Technical Liaison Unit

Telecom Forum – February 2016: Law Regulation and Enforcement Flexible or over-compliant: The role of telecommunications operators in electronic law enforcement Dr Rob Nicholls, UNSW Business School