OXFORD, United Kingdom-The upsurge in requests from U.K. police for information regarding suspects’ cell-phone calls has forced operators to impose a charge for each request, according to operators. The firms complain that police and customs officers made nearly 500,000 requests for cell-phone location and call timing information during 2002.
This sudden rise in police interest in cell-phone information has been highlighted in a number of high-profile criminal prosecutions in the United Kingdom that used mobile-phone data to help establish the guilt of the defendant. However, the police have voiced their frustration at the mobile operators for only maintaining call information for six months, thereby flouting a government code of conduct that stipulated that operators should keep records for at least 12 months to enable police to carry out checks in their fight against terrorism.
The government said discussions with U.K. operators are ongoing and expect a workable solution to be announced shortly. U.K. operators are thought to be reluctant to provide this information to the police or other government organizations free, given that they expect the number of requests to rise rapidly this year.
