Abstract :
This paper discusses the problems of legal interception on mobile communications systems and outlines the cooperation that law enforcement agencies are expecting from operators, service providers and equipment manufacturers. The advantages for business and social life provided by mobile communications are enormous. Unfortunately, there is evidence that organised crime and terrorism migrate to systems that they perceive as providing the most secure communications. Within the European Union, and in conjunction with some other developed countries, work is going on to ensure that interception facilities are retained even though the GSM roaming and, shortly, satellite systems will be able to offer service from outside national boundaries. This subject, along with that of encryption on telecommunications systems, sometime raises strong passions in the area of privacy and human rights
