India continues to seek Vodafone network access to intercept calls, texts, emails

London: India is among the 28 countries that continue to seek access to Vodafone’s network for intercepting phone calls, text messages and emails, the UK-based group said on Wednesday in a report. The telecom giant, in its Law Enforcement Disclosure report 2015, however, did not mention the number of requests made by India as the country’s laws restrict companies from disclosing data related to number and nature of communications intercepted like calls and messages. [caption id=“attachment_2007103” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] “Our second annual transparency report offers a detailed insight into the legal frameworks, governance principles and operating policies and procedures associated with responding to demands for assistance from law enforcement and intelligence agencies across 28 countries,” British telecom major Vodafone said in the report. As per details provided by Vodafone, Turkey and South Africa are other two countries having similar provisions. Vodafone said it believes that governments should “publish – at least annually – relevant and meaningful statistical information related to the number of agency and authority demands issued to block or restrict access to services or content.” Vodafone operates in 30 countries directly and 50 countries through partner networks. “The report encompasses all of the 28 local operating businesses under our direct control in which we have received a lawful demand for assistance from a law enforcement agency or government authority between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2015,” the report said. Vodafone did not include countries in which no interception demands were received nor it included countries where Vodafone does not have effective control of a licensed telecommunications operator. The world’s second largest operator said that in the report it has included “network censorship content blocking and the restriction of services which may impact our customers’ ability to express themselves freely”. PTI