Dublin: Alleged Bugging Of GSOC Offices Due For Cabinet Debate: *UPDATED

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  TheJournal.ie - GSOC bugging report to be discussed by Cabinet tomorrow

The report covers alleged bugging at the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission

*RTÉ News understands the Cooke Report has found no evidence to substantiate allegations that the office of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission was bugged.

GSOC suspected its offices in Dublin had been under surveillance after a British security firm, commissioned to conduct a security sweep, identified "three technical and electronic anomalies" that could not be "conclusively explained".

GSOC began an investigation after it suspected gardaí were involved but subsequently admitted it found no evidence of garda misconduct.

RTÉ News also understands that the inquiry by retired High Court Judge John Cooke also established that while relations were not good between gardaí and GSOC, there was no evidence of garda involvement in any surveillance of the Commission's offices.

The judge was asked to examine the sequence of events that led to the bugging claim and to assess whether there was any evidence of a security breach or an attempted security breach at GSOC.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny told the Dáil this evening that parts of the report are currently being redacted.

A special Cabinet meeting on the matter is due to be held tonight following which the report is expected to be published.

The report was received by Taoiseach Enda Kenny several days ago.

The Government announced in February that the inquiry was to be set up following allegations of bugging at the offices of the GSOC on Abbey Street in Dublin.

The retired judge was also able to review and assess any evidence of a security breach or alleged security breach, including oral evidence as deemed relevant and to make recommendations.

Mr Kenny told the Dáil today that the Cooke Report will be discussed in the chamber next week.

He said: "I think that it is appropriate that we give all of the deputies an opportunity to read this and absorb it and make Government time available for statements on it next week and that is my intention". 

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The report into the bugging of the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) is expected to be debated by Cabinet tomorrow.

The Cooke report was commissioned in February following reports of “unlawful surveillance” of GSOC.

Retired High Court Judge John Cooke was tasked with conducting an independent inquiry into the matter by the then  Minister for Justice Alan Shatter.

Bugging

The controversy centres around GSOC employing a security firm to undertake a security sweep of its headquarters in Dublin.

Signals were picked up on a phone in the offices and wifi anomalies emerged.

Shatter told the Dáil the suggestion that gardaí were in involved in the potential bugging of GSOC was “baseless innuendo” while GSOC Commissioner Kieran Fitzgerald said there was no “definitive evidence” of bugging at its headquarters but, it could not be definitely ruled out.

The former Garda Commissioner also released a statement at the time saying that he was “entirely satisfied” that no members of the Garda Síochana bugged GSOC.

Under the terms of reference, Judge Cooke was to undertake an investigation and “establish a chronology and identify the sequence of events and facts leading up to and relating to the Public Interest Investigation pertaining to security concerns” at GSOC.

He was also asked to review and assess any evidence of a security breach or attempted security breach at the GSOC, and if appropriate, make recommendations regarding measures to “improve the existing security arrangements of GSOC for the purpose of addressing risks to data and communications”.

Cooke was also asked to make any other recommendations that may be deemed appropriate arising from the review.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny confirmed on Friday that he had received a final copy of the report.

*Government agencies are able to listen to phone conversations live and even track the location of citizens without warrants using secret cables connected directly to network equipment, admits Vodafone today.

The company said that secret wires have been connected to its network and those belonging to competitors, giving government agencies the ability to tap in to phone and broadband traffic. In many countries this is mandatory for all telecoms companies, it said.

*Our customers have a right to privacy which is enshrined in international human rights law and standards and enacted through national laws. Respecting that right is one of our highest priorities: it is integral to the Vodafone Code of Conduct which everyone who works for us has to follow at all times.

However, in every country in which we operate, we have to abide by the laws of those countries which require us to disclose information about our customers to law enforcement agencies or other government authorities, or to block or restrict access to certain services. Those laws are designed to protect national security and public safety or to prevent or investigate crime and terrorism, and the agencies and authorities that invoke those laws insist that the information demanded from communications operators such as Vodafone is essential to their work.

Refusal to comply with a country’s laws is not an option. If we do not comply with a lawful demand for assistance, governments can remove our licence to operate, preventing us from providing services to our customers. Our employees who live and work in the country concerned may also be at risk of criminal sanctions, including imprisonment. We therefore have to balance our responsibility to respect our customers’ right to privacy against our legal obligation to respond to the authorities’ lawful demands as well as our duty of care to our employees, recognising throughout our broader responsibilities as a corporate citizen to protect the public and prevent harm.

www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet-security/10880208/vodafone-governments-use-secret-cables-to-tap--phones.html 

Vodafone is today publishing its first Law Enforcement Disclosure Report which will describe exactly how the governments it deals with are eavesdropping on citizens. It is calling for an end to the use of “direct access” eavesdropping and transparency on the number of warrants issued giving access to private data.

The company said that the 29 countries it operates in have different laws that demand that they restrict or block certain access to customers, or allow governments to directly access information about them. Refusal to comply with those laws was “not an option”, it said, as those countries could then stop them from operating within its borders.

In some countries this means giving access to the content of phone calls and other electronic communications, or access to metadata such as the number of calls made, the numbers they were made to and the location of the caller when those calls were placed. In some countries, around six that Vodafone does business with but not including the UK, they are made to provide a "direct access" cable straight into their network to allow governments to siphon off any data they wish, without having to issue a warrant.
*The notion that states across Europe and beyond are quietly tapping into millions of emails and phone calls across multiple platforms obviously causes significant disquiet and helps reinforce the notion that Big Brother is listening to – if not actually watching – us all.

Last year, Edward Snowden lifted the lid on the expansive internet data monitoring system put in place by America’s National Security Agency (NSA) and gave lie to the notion that anything people say and do online is done in total privacy.

Further proof that the privacy people once took for granted is a myth emerged yesterday morning when Vodafone, one of the world’s largest mobile phone groups, revealed the existence of secret wires which allow government agencies in at least 29 countries, including the Republic, access to conversations on its networks.

This direct access to its network – and those of other telecoms companies who have yet to identify themselves – does not require a warrant and none of the companies involved has any solid information about the nature of the access or the number of customers targeted. This means that mass surveillance can happen on any network without any real oversight or knowledge outside of the apparatus of the state.

Untrammelled access

Vodafone’s Law Enforcement Disclosure Report runs to 40,000 words and confims that wires giving almost untrammelled access to its networks were sanctioned by dozens of government agencies which continue to have the ability to listen to or record live conversations and track the whereabouts of customers.

“These pipes exist, the direct access model exists. We are making a call to end direct access as a means of government agencies obtaining people’s communication data. Without an official warrant, there is no external visibility,” said Vodafone’s group privacy officer, Stephen Deadman.

“If we receive a demand we can push back against the agency. The fact that a government has to issue a piece of paper is an important constraint on how powers are used.”

Vodafone believes governments should “discourage agencies and authorities from seeking direct access to an operator’s communications infrastructure without a lawful mandate”.

The mandate in the Republic stems from the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act 1983, which established a regime for the interception of telecommunications messages. “Although ‘telecommunications message’ is not defined for these purposes, it includes emails and text messages as well as phone calls,” Vodafone said in its report.

Under the Act, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources has the authority to issue directions in writing to any operator requiring them to do anything which he may specify as necessary in the national interest. Vodafone said these powers were “sufficiently broad” to require it to assist in implementing interception capabilities on its networks.

Serious crime

The Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunications Messages (Regulation) Act 1993 also provides for the interception of postal packets and telecommunications messages.

Under the Act authorisation for an interception can be granted by the Minister for Justice to the Garda for the investigation of serious crime and to both the Garda and Defence Forces in the interests of State security.

The Act obliges the Minister to keep secret the fact they have granted an order and so the State does not release any figures relating to how many times orders are granted annually.

The Criminal Justice Surveillance Act 2009 does not relate to intercepting phone calls, but rather planting bugging devices and covert cameras during the investigation of crime.

Mr Justice Kevin Feeney – who monitors the Garda’s, Revenue’s and Defence Forces’ use of the provision – described as “a small double figure number” the number of times permissions were granted in the 12 months to July 2012.

Requests

Vodafone said the Irish Government had refused it permission to publish information on any requests made but added that the data supplied could be sought for a number of reasons, including helping to find missing people.

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties said the disclosures highlighted the need for a “comprehensive overhaul of Ireland’s outdated interception laws”