Editing Surveillance (section)

===Telephones===
{{Main|Phone surveillance|Lawful interception}}
The official and unofficial tapping of telephone lines is widespread. In the [[United States]] for instance, the [[Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act]] (CALEA) requires that all telephone and VoIP communications be available for real-time wiretapping by Federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies.<ref name="eff-calea-archive"/><ref name="eff-calea-summary"/><ref name="eff-calea-faq"/> Two major [[telecommunications companies]] in the U.S.—[[AT&T Inc.]] and [[Verizon]]—have contracts with the FBI, requiring them to keep their phone call records easily searchable and accessible for Federal agencies, in return for $1.8 million per year.<ref name="threatlevel-exigent">{{cite news|url=http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/09/rogue-fbi-lette.html#previouspost|title=Rogue FBI Letters Hint at Phone Companies' Own Data Mining Programs – Updated|last=Singel|first=Ryan|date=September 10, 2007|work=Threat Level|publisher=Wired|access-date=March 19, 2009}}</ref> Between 2003 and 2005, the FBI sent out more than 140,000 "[[National Security Letter]]s" ordering phone companies to hand over information about their customers' calling and Internet histories. About half of these letters requested information on U.S. citizens.<ref name="fbi-national-letters">{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aBd9Zzld22w0&refer=home|title=Mueller Orders Audit of 56 FBI Offices for Secret Subpoenas |last=Roland|first=Neil|date=March 20, 2007|work=Bloomberg News|access-date=March 19, 2009}}</ref>

Human agents are not required to monitor most calls. [[Speech-to-text]] software creates machine-readable text from intercepted audio, which is then processed by automated call-analysis programs, such as those developed by agencies such as the [[Information Awareness Office]], or companies such as [[Verint]], and [[Narus (company)|Narus]], which search for certain words or phrases, to decide whether to dedicate a human agent to the call.<ref name="latimes-fbi-intel-analysis">{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jul-29-na-technology29-story.html|title=FBI Plans to Fight Terror With High-Tech Arsenal|last=Piller|first=Charles|author2=Eric Lichtblau |date=July 29, 2002|newspaper=LA Times|access-date=March 14, 2009}}</ref>

Law enforcement and intelligence services in the United Kingdom and the United States possess technology to activate the microphones in cell phones remotely, by accessing phones' diagnostic or maintenance features in order to listen to conversations that take place near the person who holds the phone.<ref name="schneier-roving-bugs">{{cite web|url=http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/12/remotely_eavesd_1.html|title=Remotely Eavesdropping on Cell Phone Microphones|last=Schneier|first=Bruce|date=December 5, 2006|work=Schneier On Security|access-date=December 13, 2009}}</ref><ref name="roving-bugs">{{cite news|url=http://news.cnet.com/FBI-taps-cell-phone-mic-as-eavesdropping-tool/2100-1029_3-6140191.html |title=FBI taps cell phone mic as eavesdropping tool |last=McCullagh |first=Declan |author2=Anne Broache |date=December 1, 2006 |work=CNet News |access-date=March 14, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110182623/http://news.cnet.com/FBI-taps-cell-phone-mic-as-eavesdropping-tool/2100-1029_3-6140191.html |archive-date=November 10, 2013 }}</ref><ref name="uk-mobile-bug">{{cite news|url=http://news.ft.com/cms/s/7166b8a2-02cb-11da-84e5-00000e2511c8.html|title=Use of mobile helped police keep tabs on suspect |last=Odell|first=Mark|date=August 1, 2005|work=Financial Times|access-date=March 14, 2009}}</ref><ref name="noaa-phone">{{cite web|url=http://www.wrc.noaa.gov/wrso/security_guide/telephon.htm|title=Telephones|year=2001|work=Western Regional Security Office (NOAA official site)|access-date=March 22, 2009|archive-date=November 6, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106021817/http://www.wrc.noaa.gov/wrso/security_guide/telephon.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="can-you-hear-me">{{cite news|url=http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/12/can_you_hear_me.html |title=Can You Hear Me Now? |work=ABC News: The Blotter |access-date=December 13, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110825102123/http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/12/can_you_hear_me.html |archive-date=August 25, 2011 }}</ref><ref name="seattle-times-roving">{{cite news|url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003474824_bugs130.html|title=Even if they're off, cellphones allow FBI to listen in|last=Coughlin|first=Kevin|date=December 13, 2006|work=The Seattle Times|access-date=December 14, 2009}}</ref>

The [[Stingray phone tracker|StingRay]] tracker is an example of one of these tools used to monitor cell phone usage in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally developed for counterterrorism purposes by the military, they work by broadcasting powerful signals that cause nearby cell phones to transmit their [[Mobile identification number|IMSI number]], just as they would to normal cell phone towers. Once the phone is connected to the device, there is no way for the user to know that they are being tracked. The operator of the stingray is able to extract information such as location, phone calls, and text messages, but it is widely believed that the capabilities of the StingRay extend much further. A lot of controversy surrounds the StingRay because of its powerful capabilities and the secrecy that surrounds it.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hampton|first=Brittany|year=2012|title=From Smartphones to Stingrays: Can the Fourth Amendment Keep up with the Twenty-First Century Note|url=http://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/branlaj51&amp;div=8&amp;g_sent=1&amp;collection=journals|journal=University of Louisville Law Review|volume=Fifty One|pages=159–176|via=Law Journal Library}}</ref>

Mobile phones are also commonly used to collect location data. The geographical location of a mobile phone (and thus the person carrying it) can be determined easily even when the phone is not being used, using a technique known as [[multilateration]] to calculate the differences in time for a signal to travel from the cell phone to each of several [[cell towers]] near the owner of the phone.<ref name="bbc-phone-locate">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4738219.stm|title=Tracking a suspect by mobile phone|date=August 3, 2005|work=BBC News|access-date=March 14, 2009}}</ref><ref name="foxnews-phone-locate">{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/cell-phone-tracking-can-locate-terrorists-but-only-where-its-legal|title=Cell Phone Tracking Can Locate Terrorists – But Only Where It's Legal|last=Miller|first=Joshua|date=March 14, 2009|work=FOX News|access-date=March 14, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090318002319/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,509211,00.html|archive-date=March 18, 2009|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The legality of such techniques has been questioned in the United States, in particular whether a court warrant is required.<ref name="nyu-lawrev">{{cite journal|ssrn=1092293|title=Warrantless Location Tracking|year=2008|journal=N.Y.U. Law Review|last1=Samuel|first1=Ian}}</ref> Records for ''one'' carrier alone (Sprint), showed that in a given year federal law enforcement agencies requested customer location data 8 million times.<ref name="wired-gps-ping">{{cite news|url=https://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/12/gps-data|title= Threat Level Privacy, Crime and Security Online Feds 'Pinged' Sprint GPS Data 8 Million Times Over a Year|last=Zetter|first=Kim|date=December 1, 2009|work=Wired Magazine: Threat Level|access-date=December 5, 2009}}</ref>
[[File:Aerial of GCHQ, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England 24May2017 arp.jpg|thumb|The headquarters of UK intelligence activities is [[Government Communications Headquarters]], [[Cheltenham]], England (2017)]]
In response to customers' privacy concerns in the post [[Edward Snowden]] era,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://snowdenarchive.cjfe.org/greenstone/cgi-bin/library.cgi/|title=Greenstone Digital Library Software|website=snowdenarchive.cjfe.org|access-date=2017-06-03|archive-date=January 4, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220104101650/https://snowdenarchive.cjfe.org/greenstone/cgi-bin/library.cgi|url-status=dead}}</ref> Apple's iPhone 6 has been designed to disrupt investigative [[wiretapping]] efforts. The phone encrypts e-mails, contacts, and photos with a code generated by a complex mathematical algorithm that is unique to an individual phone, and is inaccessible to Apple.<ref name="new-iphone-locks-out-nsa">{{cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/27/technology/iphone-locks-out-the-nsa-signaling-a-post-snowden-era-.html?r=0=home|title=Signaling Post-Snowden Era, New iPhone Locks Out N.S.A|last=Sanger|first=David|date=Sep 26, 2014|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=November 1, 2014}}</ref> The [[encryption]] feature on the iPhone 6 has drawn criticism from FBI director James B. Comey and other law enforcement officials since even lawful requests to access user content on the iPhone 6 will result in Apple supplying "gibberish" data that requires law enforcement personnel to either break the code themselves or to get the code from the phone's owner.<ref name="new-iphone-locks-out-nsa" /> Because the Snowden leaks demonstrated that American agencies can access phones anywhere in the world, privacy concerns in countries with growing markets for smart phones have intensified, providing a strong incentive for companies like [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] to address those concerns in order to secure their position in the global market.<ref name="new-iphone-locks-out-nsa" />

[[Apple Inc.|Apple]] has made several moves to emphasize their concern for privacy, in order to appeal to more consumers. In 2011, Apple stopped the use of permanent device identifiers, and in 2019, they banned the ability of third parties to track on children's apps.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Are iPhones Really Better for Privacy? Comparative Study of iOS and Android Apps |url=https://csu-sfsu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=cdi_proquest_journals_2577590488&context=PC&vid=01CALS_SFR:01CALS_SFR&lang=en&search_scope=Everything_RAPIDO&adaptor=Primo%20Central&tab=Everything&query=any,contains,iphone%20privacy&offset=0 |access-date=2023-09-22 |website=csu-sfsu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com |language=en}}</ref>

Although the [[Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act|CALEA]] requires telecommunications companies to build into their systems the ability to carry out a lawful wiretap, the law has not been updated to address the issue of smart phones and requests for access to [[e-mails]] and [[metadata]].<ref name="nsa-tracking-cellphone-locations">{{cite news|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-tracking-cellphone-locations-worldwide-snowden-documents-show/2013/12/04/5492873a-5cf2-11e3-bc56-c6ca94801fac_story.html?r=0=home|title=NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide, Snowden documents show|last=Gellman|first=Barton|date=Dec 4, 2013|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=November 1, 2014}}</ref> The Snowden leaks show that the [[NSA]] has been taking advantage of this ambiguity in the law by collecting metadata on "at least hundreds of millions" of "incidental" targets from around the world.<ref name="nsa-tracking-cellphone-locations"/> The NSA uses an analytic tool known as CO-TRAVELER in order to track people whose movements intersect and to find any hidden connections with persons of interest.<ref name="nsa-tracking-cellphone-locations"/>

The Snowden leaks have also revealed that the British [[Government Communications Headquarters]] (GCHQ) can access information collected by the NSA on American citizens. Once the data has been collected, the GCHQ can hold on to it for up to two years. The deadline can be extended with the permission of a "senior UK official".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ball |first1=James |title=GCHQ views data without a warrant, government admits |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/oct/29/gchq-nsa-data-surveillance |work=The Guardian |date=29 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Szoldra |first1=Paul |title=This is everything Edward Snowden revealed in one year of unprecedented top-secret leaks |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/snowden-leaks-timeline-2016-9 |website=Business Insider}}</ref>