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Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act  (CALEA)

Assistance capability requirements for wireline, cellular, and PCS telecommunications carriers

1. (a) Definitions.
   1. Call identifying information. Call identifying information means dialing or signaling information that identifies the origin, direction, destination, or termination of each communication generated or received by a subscriber by means of any equipment, facility, or service of a telecommunications carrier. Call identifying information is “reasonably available” to a carrier if it is present at an intercept access point and can be made available without the carrier being unduly burdened with network modifications.
   2. Collection function. The location where lawfully authorized intercepted communications and call-identifying information is collected by a law enforcement agency (LEA).
   3. Content of subject-initiated conference calls. Capability that permits a LEA to monitor the content of conversations by all parties connected via a conference call when the facilities under surveillance maintain a circuit connection to the call.
   4. Destination. A party or place to which a call is being made (e.g., the called party).
   5. Dialed digit extraction. Capability that permits a LEA to receive on the call data channel a digits dialed by a subject after a call is connected to another carrier’s service for processing and routing.
   6. Direction. A party or place to which a call is re-directed or the party or place from which it came, either incoming or outgoing (e.g., a redirected-to party or redirected-from party).
   7. IAP. Intercept access point is a point within a carrier’s system where some of the communications or call-identifying information of an intercept subject’s equipment, facilities, and services are accessed.
   8. In-band and out-of-band signaling. Capability that permits a LEA to be informed when a network message that provides call identifying information (e.g., ringing, busy, call waiting signal, message light) is generated or sent by the IAP switch to a subject using the facilities under surveillance. Excludes signals generated by customer premises equipment when no network signal is generated.
   9. J-STD-025. The standard, including the latest version, developed by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) for wireline, cellular, and broadband PCS carriers. This standard defines services and features to support lawfully authorized electronic surveillance, and specifies interfaces necessary to deliver intercepted communications and call-identifying information to a LEA. Subsequently, TIA and ATIS published J-STD-025-A and J-STD-025-B.
   10. Origin. A party initiating a call (e.g., a calling party), or a place from which a call is initiated.
   11. Party hold, join, drop on conference calls. Capability that permits a LEA to identify the parties to a conference call conversation at all times.
   12. Subject-initiated dialing and signaling information. Capability that permits a LEA to be informed when a subject using the facilities under surveillance uses services that provide call identifying information, such as call forwarding, call waiting, call hold, and three-way calling. Excludes signals generated by customer premises equipment when no network signal is generated.
   13. Termination. A party or place at the end of a communication path (e.g. the called or call-receiving party, or the switch of a party that has placed another party on hold).
   14. Timing information. Capability that permits a LEA to associate call-identifying information with the content of a call. A call-identifying message must be sent from the carrier’s IAP to the LEA’s Collection Function within eight seconds of receipt of that message by the IAP at least 95% of the time, and with the call event time-stamped to an accuracy of at least 200 milliseconds.

1. In addition to the requirements in section 1.20006, wireline, cellular, and PCS telecommunications carriers shall provide to a LEA the assistance capability requirements regarding wire and electronic communications and call identifying information covered by J-STD-025 (current version), and, subject to the definitions in this section, may satisfy these requirements by complying with J-STD-025 (current version), or by another means of their own choosing. These carriers also shall provide to a LEA the following capabilities:
   1. Content of subject-initiated conference calls;
   2. Party hold, join, drop on conference calls;
   3. Subject-initiated dialing and signaling information;
   4. In-band and out-of-band signaling;
   5. Timing information;
   6. Dialed digit extraction, with a toggle feature that can activate/deactivate this capability

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In October 1994, Congress took action to protect public safety and ensure national security by enacting the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (CALEA), Pub. L. No. 103-414, 108 Stat. 4279. The law further defines the existing statutory obligation of telecommunications carriers to assist law enforcement in executing electronic surveillance pursuant to court order or other lawful authorization. The objective of CALEA implementation is to preserve law enforcement’s ability to conduct lawfully-authorized electronic surveillance while preserving public safety, the public’s right to privacy, and the telecommunications industry’s competitiveness.

May 3, 2006 Second Report, Memorandum Opinion, and Order — The primary goal of the Order is to ensure that Law Enforcement Agencies have all of the resources that CALEA authorizes with regard to facilities-based broadband Internet access providers (ISP) and interconnected voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) providers.

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Capability Requirements for Telecommunications Carriers

Section 103 of CALEA sets forth the assistance capability requirements that telecommunications carriers need to maintain to support law enforcement in the conduct of lawfully-authorized electronic surveillance. Specifically, CALEA directs the telecommunications industry to design, develop, and deploy solutions that meet certain assistance capability requirements.

Pursuant to a court order or other lawful authorization, carriers must be able to: (1) expeditiously isolate all wire and electronic communications of a target transmitted by the carrier within its service area; (2) expeditiously isolate call-identifying information of a target; (3) provide intercepted communications and call-identifying information to law enforcement; and (4) carry out intercepts unobtrusively, so targets are not made aware of the electronic surveillance, and in a manner that does not compromise the privacy and security of other communications.

On August 15, 2000, in the case of United States Telecom Association, et al., Petitioners v. Federal Communications Commission and United States of America, respondents and AirTouch Communications, Inc., Interveners. (D.C. Circuit, August 15, 2000) the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit partially vacated and remanded to the Federal Communications Commission the Third Report and Order FCC 99-230. The court vacated the FCC’s decision with respect to four Punch List capabilities: dialed digit extraction, party/hold/join/drop information, subject initiated dialing and signaling, and in-band/out-of-band signaling. The court’s ruling requires the FCC to reconsider whether these four Punch List items are mandated by CALEA, and to enter a new decision in accordance with the court’s instructions. The court primarily vacated the FCC’s order on the grounds that the FCC had not adequately explained and supported its reasons for determining that any of the capabilities were required by CALEA. In particular, the court directed the FCC to more fully explain the their consideration of the privacy protection and cost minimization factors of Sections 107(b)(1) and (3) and to explain its application of the CALEA definition of call identifying information. The court specifically directed the FCC to address on remand how to protect the privacy and security of communications not authorized to be intercepted in the case of dialed digit extraction.

Rejecting the challenges of certain privacy groups, the court refused to vacate the FCC’s Order with respect to packet-mode communications and location information. These two capabilities, and other punch list items that were not challenged before the court (including conference call surveillance and timing information), therefore were not altered by the court’s decision.

On September 21, 2001, the FCC released Order FCC 01-265. In the Order, the FCC granted in part the relief requested by CTIA by temporarily suspending the September 30, 2001, compliance date for wireline, cellular, and broadband PCS carriers to implement two punch list capabilities mandated by the Third Report and Order FCC 99-230. Also, the FCC denied CTIA’s request for a blanket extension of the September 30, 2001, compliance deadline for these carriers to implement a packet-mode communications capability. However, due to the imminence of the packet-mode compliance deadline, the FCC granted these carriers until November 19, 2001, either to come into compliance or seek individual relief. You can read the news announcement regarding Order FCC 01-265.

An Order on Remand FCC 02-108 ordering capabilities authorized by CALEA that must be provided by wireline, cellular, and broadband PCS telecommunications carriers was released by the FCC on April 11, 2002. The FCC issued this order in response to a decision issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that vacated four FBI ?punch list? electronic surveillance capabilities mandated by the Third Report and Order.

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