United StatesCommunications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), carrier assistance capability and systems security
47 U.S.C. 1001-1010; 47 CFR Part 1, Subpart Z
In force since .
An interception and recording consent rule binding private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Governance, Security, Reporting
As of .
What it requires
- If you are a telecommunications carrier (a common carrier for hire that transmits or switches wire or electronic communications, a commercial mobile service provider, a facilities-based broadband Internet access provider, or an interconnected VoIP provider), ensure that the equipment, facilities or services that give a subscriber the ability to originate, terminate or direct communications can isolate a subscriber's communications and the call-identifying information reasonably available to you and deliver them to the government under a court order or other lawful authorization (47 U.S.C. 1002(a)).
- Ensure that any interception of communications or access to call-identifying information within your switching premises can be activated only under a court order or other lawful authorization and with the affirmative intervention of an individual officer or employee of yours (47 U.S.C. 1004).
- Appoint a senior officer or employee responsible for that duty, establish written policies and procedures that include contact information for law enforcement agencies seven days a week, 24 hours a day, and file them with the Commission before commencing service (47 CFR 1.20003(a) and (b), 1.20005(a)).
- Keep a secure and accurate record of each interception of communications or access to call-identifying information, made with or without authorization, certified by the individual who oversaw it (47 CFR 1.20004(a)).
- Report to the affected law enforcement agencies, within a reasonable time upon discovery, any compromise of a lawful interception to unauthorized persons and any unlawful electronic surveillance on your premises (47 CFR 1.20003(c)).
- Consult, as necessary and in a timely fashion, with the manufacturers of your transmission and switching equipment and your providers of telecommunications support services so that current and planned equipment, facilities and services meet the assistance capability requirements (47 U.S.C. 1005(a)).
- If you manufacture telecommunications transmission or switching equipment or provide telecommunications support services, make available to carriers, on a reasonably timely basis and at a reasonable charge, the features or modifications they need to comply (47 U.S.C. 1005(b)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of . Also read by: Federal Communications Commission (guidance, recorded ).
If you get it wrong
Penalty structure
The civil penalty applies for each day in violation after a court's enforcement order issues or after a later date the court specifies.
- Rule
- Per violation only
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Per violation unit
- Day
- Per violation amount
- 10,000
Over one month of continuous breach, USD 304,400.
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Federal Communications Commission, for the rules in 47 CFR Part 1, Subpart Z; United States district courts, on application of the Attorney General or by the court that authorized the surveillance, for enforcement orders under 18 U.S.C. 2522
Settledness
The Commission rescinded and withdrew its declaratory ruling and notice of proposed rulemaking (FCC 25-9) concerning the Act.
- As of
- Guidance link
- https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-25-81A1.pdf
- Guidance body
- Federal Communications Commission
- Open questions
- Does a provider of wire or electronic communication switching or transmission service other than facilities-based broadband Internet access or interconnected VoIP service offer a “replacement for a substantial portion of the local telephone exchange service” under 47 U.S.C. 1001(8)(B)(ii)?
- Do the “information services” that 47 U.S.C. 1001(8)(C)(i) excludes from a carrier include a messaging service that a broadband provider offers over its own connection?
What this law does
The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act requires a telecommunications carrier to ensure that its equipment, facilities or services that provide a customer or subscriber with the ability to originate, terminate or direct communications are capable of isolating a subscriber's communications and call-identifying information and delivering them to the government under a court order or other lawful authorization.
A telecommunications carrier is a person or entity engaged in the transmission or switching of wire or electronic communications as a common carrier for hire, and includes a provider of commercial mobile service and a provider of wire or electronic communication switching or transmission service that the Commission finds is a replacement for a substantial portion of the local telephone exchange service and that it is in the public interest to deem a carrier.
The term does not include a person or entity insofar as it is engaged in providing information services. The Federal Communications Commission ruled in 2005 that providers of facilities-based broadband Internet access services and providers of interconnected voice over Internet Protocol services, meaning VoIP service that allows a user generally to receive calls originating from and to terminate calls to the public switched telephone network, must comply with the Act.
The Commission required those carriers to be in compliance with the assistance capability requirements of section 103 of the Act by . A carrier may satisfy the assistance capability requirements by complying with publicly available technical requirements or standards adopted by an industry association or standard-setting organization, or by the Commission.
The assistance capability requirements do not apply to information services, or to equipment, facilities or services that support the transport or switching of communications for private networks or for the sole purpose of interconnecting telecommunications carriers.
A carrier is not responsible for decrypting, or ensuring the government's ability to decrypt, a communication encrypted by a subscriber or customer, unless the carrier provided the encryption and possesses the information necessary to decrypt the communication.
A carrier must ensure that any interception of communications or access to call-identifying information effected within its switching premises can be activated only in accordance with a court order or other lawful authorization and with the affirmative intervention of an individual officer or employee of the carrier. The Commission's rules require a carrier to appoint a senior officer or employee responsible for ensuring that duty is met.
A carrier must maintain a secure and accurate record of each interception of communications or access to call-identifying information, made with or without appropriate authorization. A carrier must report to the affected law enforcement agencies, within a reasonable time upon discovery, any act of compromise of a lawful interception and any act of unlawful electronic surveillance that occurred on its premises.
A manufacturer of telecommunications transmission or switching equipment and a provider of telecommunications support services must, on a reasonably timely basis and at a reasonable charge, make available to carriers the features or modifications necessary to permit them to comply with the capability requirements.
A court issuing an enforcement order against a carrier, a manufacturer of transmission or switching equipment or a provider of telecommunications support services may impose a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per day for each day in violation after the order issues or after a later date the court specifies. For a carrier's violation of the Commission's rules in the subpart, the Commission enforces the penalties articulated in section 503(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 and 47 CFR 1.80.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app provides telecom services.