Public safety, a catch-phrase among law enforcement officials, is being used to mute private cellular phone companies, which oppose their statutory obligation to assist law enforcement under a new wiretap law.
The Communications Protection and Surveillance Act (CPSA,
Though in support of law enforcement, much as state-run Chunghwa Telecom Ltd (
Costs for modification of their telecommunications equipment have been a flash point during negotiations between the companies and law-enforcement officials over the past few months.
And in the last few days, another round of disputes has been sparked by just-drafted bylaws of the CPSA, in which technical capability for wiretapping is one of the criteria required for licensing a telecommunications carrier.
Public safety, the law enforcement officials claim, should weigh more highly than commercial considerations of the companies.
"It has been too long that law enforcement has been unable to reach private cellular users," said Tsai Pi-yu (
"For the sake of public safety, private companies cannot evade the statutory obligation. And they shouldn't be given any exemptions that Chunghwa Telecom doesn't have," she added.
Wiretapping, though a common means of combating crime, is an ongoing and highly contentious conflict between law enforcement and civil rights.
The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau, which is charged with both intelligence tasks and crime investigation, is in possession of equipment and technology that can monitor calls made by both Chunghwa Telecom's land line and wireless telephone users.
Police forces, previously without the authority and equipment to wiretap, fought for the same equipment as the Investigation Bureau for years until the Executive Yuan approved its request in November 1998.
The approval came only after a highly publicized fight between the Investigation Bureau and the police over access to wiretaps in investigating the island's most notorious kidnap-murder in June 1997, in which TV entertainer Pai Ping-ping's (
It was discovered that police, fearing credit for the investigation would go to the bureau, tapped the phone of an agent of the Investigation Bureau, who was a member of the bureau's special taskforce tracking calls made by the suspected kidnappers.
To end the long-existing rift between the two investigative bodies over wiretap authority, the Executive Yuan decided to authorize police forces to conduct wiretaps on private cellular users while the Investigation Bureau has the authority to wiretap phone users of state-run Chunghwa Telecom.
The CPSA dictates that private telecommunications companies accommodate law enforcement needs. However, implementation of the act will have to wait until law enforcement agencies and cellular companies strike a deal over the costs of modifying equipment.
"We need to know who'll pay the costs. And we want to ascertain what we'll get in addition to reimbursement for modification of the telecommunications network," said George Huang (
"Above all, we're worried cellular phone users will lose their faith in our service for fear of having their phone tapped," Huang said.
Law enforcement agencies have ensured that the costs will not be shouldered by the cellular phone companies. Their assurance, however, has failed to convince critics of the CPSA.
"It's a statute that leaves too much room for imagination," said Liu Ching-yi (劉靜宜), assistant professor of law at National Central University. "This is legislation passed by lawmakers who have very limited knowledge of telecommunications. And what's, worse is they're not aware of the risks which may result from misuse of the law."
In the US, how wiretapping will be adapted to the age of wireless telecommunications has been the subject of a long-running dispute between the telecommunications industry, privacy groups, the Justice Department, and the FBI since enactment of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) in 1994.
The CALEA, however, does not state that companies just entering the telecommunications industry will not obtain a license to operate if their equipment fails to meet specifications needed for law enforcement.
Public safety is also clearly specified in the CPSA, along with a guarantee of freedom of communications.
Liu, who specializes in technology legislation, pointed out that the contradiction contained within the act puts customers at the largest risk.
"Of course the police need the power to nab bad guys. But is it justifiable to sacrifice the privacy of over 22 million law-abiding citizens only to catch these comparatively few bad guys?" Liu said. "And the costs, if not covered by the government, will be imposed on the customers at the end of the day. And then you can see what an irony it is that customers will pay to have their phones tapped."
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