Data from wiretapping was used back in the Soviet Union. But over time, a law was passed prohibiting interference with a person’s privacy. What does this mean, what punishment will be in case of a violation, we read in the article.
Definition
Listening to telephone conversations is an event that consists in secret monitoring and recording of telephone conversations of people. It is carried out using special equipment and aims to detect information about the person’s illegal activities, contacts with criminals or other incriminating actions.
The problem is that such search operations directly violate the right of every citizen. It is prescribed in the Constitution (on the secrecy of telephone conversations). For this reason, to listen to telephone conversations, a judicial decision or a basis on a decision of the leadership of the body that performs operational-search actions is necessary. It is also important that a court decision must be made within forty-eight hours.
Listening Objects
If wiretapping is necessary in any organizations, institutions or enterprises, then stationary equipment is connected for wiretapping. The means and operational-technical forces of state security agencies, internal affairs and those that control the circulation of narcotic and psychotropic substances are used.
Telephone can be tapped only by suspects or accused, as well as those who, according to the authorities, have information about any crimes.
There are no specific rules that you can listen to. Depending on the needs, representatives of the law can listen to bilateral, unilateral, multilateral communication. The object of wiretapping can turn out to be either a personal means of communication (smartphone, landline telephone), or an apparatus installed in a public place (telephone in a cafe, a vending machine on the street).
It should also be noted that listening can be called only a conversation of several people. If only one person’s speech is heard, then this is called observation, during which special technical means are used.
Responsibilities of telecom operators
During the operational-search activities, mobile operators are obliged to implement the requirements for communications and networks that will be used. In addition, they must take measures to conceal all data on such events.
Also, communication workers must provide information about those who use this communication and the options that are selected by the person of interest during the operational-search activities. In addition, mobile operators are required to provide any known information.
Mobile operators may suspend or resume the provision of services to both individuals and legal entities. But this requires a reasoned decision in writing of the leadership of the body that carries out operational search activities.
At the end of the listening, the operational employee should display all the results of the event in the certificate or report. It surrenders with the received phonograms. The latter are sealed and stored so that it is possible to exclude the possibility of their replication and listening by third parties.
Grounds for installing listening equipment
According to the law, private and general grounds for establishing listening devices are distinguished. Private grounds include:
- The need for the immediate implementation of operational investigative measures with the delayed receipt of a court permit.
- Establishment of an audition with a written statement from the auditioner, or if there is written consent. In this case, court authorization is not required to establish an audition.
Common grounds include:
- Information that a crime is being prepared, or it has already been committed. In addition, the basis is information on a possible state, environmental, military or economic threat.
- If the unlawful act refers to the medium gravity of the crime, as well as to grave or especially grave.
- There is a court order that allows for wiretapping.
Listening preparation
The first step is to determine the tasks that will help to solve wiretapping of ORM calls. Methods of conducting the operation and a place to connect to telephones or telephone lines are also planned.
Then compiled lists of means by which the subscriber communicates with people, as well as numbers that the subscriber uses.
In order to avoid problems, the terms for listening to telephone conversations, the grounds and conditions are specified.
The executor is determined. After it is selected, draw up the necessary documents. These are papers such as:
- a decree from the management of the body that carries out the operational-search action, it must contain a request for this event;
- Judge's ruling authorizing wiretapping;
- task for conducting operational search activities;
- Help, which clarifies the information contained in the task;
- sound recording that is stored on a machine storage medium, the latter must be registered.
When listening is possible without permission
But there are times when you can’t hesitate, because delay can lead to the commission of a crime of a grave or especially grave category, as well as bearing a state, economic, military or environmental threat. Then listening to telephone calls is allowed. The grounds can be any. The main thing is that within two days a court permit is obtained. In the first twenty-four hours, the initiator of this event must notify the judicial authority.
When there is a threat to the health, life, property of a person who himself wrote a statement and consent to wiretapping, you can wiretap telephone conversations without a court order. But such actions should still be approved by a person who has the right to sign. In addition, it is necessary to notify the court within two days after the decision is approved. How to convey information to the judge, each employee will choose for himself.
According to the law on warfare, wiretapping of telephone conversations is possible without permission in the case when a citizen has written consent in writing and if the authorities collect information on issues related to the safety of individuals.
Due to different situations, listening to conversations may happen as follows:
- voice recordings may be removed;
- termination of communication services;
- suspension of communication services.
What to do with listening results
After the permission to wiretap expires, the employee must decide how to use the information received. You also need to decide if there is a need to continue listening to the same person, or whether to switch to another.
The officer also decides to transfer whether to change the status of the wiretap from the wanted action to the investigative action. The decision is made with the participation of the investigator. Typically, such data is used as evidence of the listener's guilt.
Also, the results of wiretapping can be used to conduct other search activities, initiate criminal proceedings, investigative actions, and so on.
If a criminal case is instituted in relation to the person being tapped, then all the data received is transmitted to the investigator in order to attach them to the case.
You need to know that all the data obtained as a result of operational activities can only be used if permission has been issued for them, and the activities themselves have been carried out in accordance with all norms and rules.
For this reason, the employee must transmit not only data from listening, but also permission for them.
Information destruction
When the court ruling on wiretapping came into force, the information was received and transmitted to the investigator, who after some time closed the case, the question arises of data storage. All information is sent for storage, which lasts no more than six months. Before destroying the records, or rather, for three months, the corresponding judge is notified.
If there is a need to use the collected data, then only the originals of the records are used and transferred to the inquiry agency, investigator or court.
Illegal listening
Illegal wiretapping refers to any wiretapping organized by incompetent authorities. That is, regardless of whether the jealous spouse is listening on the phone or an incredulous employer, anyone will have to answer.
So what is the responsibility for illegally tapping telephone calls? What to expect in this case?
In article 137 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on illegal wiretapping of telephone conversations, it is said that illegal assembly or use is punishable by a fine of two hundred thousand or a salary for one and a half years. They can also be punished with correctional labor for a year or forced labor for two years. Another punishment may be a four-month arrest, imprisonment for two years.
If a person with a high position is engaged in wiretapping without any reason or consent of the person being listened to, he will bear the following responsibility for illegal wiretapping:
- a fine from one hundred to three hundred thousand rubles;
- a fine in the amount of salary for a period of one to two years;
- deprivation of the right to occupy certain positions from two to five years;
- forced labor up to four years with a ban on holding positions;
- half year arrest;
- imprisonment for four years and a ban on occupations or positions for five years.
According to article 138, the punishment for violating the secrecy of telephone conversations, correspondence and other personal information is as follows:
- a fine of up to eighty thousand;
- a fine in the amount of salary for six months;
- compulsory work for three hundred and sixty hours;
- correctional work for a year.
If a person did the same using his position, then he can be punished:
- a fine of up to three hundred thousand;
- fine in the amount of salaries for two years;
- deprivation of the right to occupy a position or take part in some activity;
- compulsory work for four hundred eighty hours;
- forced labor for four years;
- four months arrest;
- four years imprisonment.
How to understand if the phone is being tapped?
After reading the text, many people will think, but is their phone on the wiretap? To make it easier to understand whether this is true or not, we will describe several signs by which you can understand that something is wrong with the phone. It is important to remember that the information given is relevant for cell phones, and not for landlines. So, the signs of tapping the phone.
The first sign is a hot battery. When the telephone battery is hot, it indicates that the device is quickly losing its charge. If this happens while using the phone or talking on it, then everything is fine.But if the battery does not stop warming at rest, then you should think about the fact that the smartphone has a hidden mode of operation.
The second sign is that the charge on the phone runs out quickly. What does it mean? This is a continuation of the first sign, namely, that some working application is hidden in the phone. Do not be scared in case of a gradual decrease in battery life, but you should pay attention if it has sharply decreased. By the way, such a sharp battery consumption can cause not only a spyware program, but also a virus on the phone itself.
The third sign is that the phone does not turn off immediately. It is worth paying attention to the phone if there are problems with turning it off. Of course, this could be due to ordinary technical malfunctions, but it is better to play it safe. So, it’s worth the alarm when the phone cannot be turned off quickly. Shutdown does not occur, or the backlight lights up, or turns off, but for a very long time.
The fourth sign is that the phone lives its own life. For example, the backlight itself may turn on, some programs may open and close, a reboot may start, or it may turn off altogether. This behavior of the device can already be attributed to spy devices with almost one hundred percent certainty.
The fifth sign of wiretapping is interference during a call. There are two types of interference:
- the first we hear when we speak;
- the second when the phone is close to the speakers.
During a conversation, hissing, echo, all kinds of clicks and other noise can lead to thoughts of wiretapping. But at the same time, such interference can be due to technical problems.
In the second case, you should be wary if the phone is not in talk mode, but interference appears in the speakers. This is strange because they only occur when the phone is in talk mode or some application is running. Accordingly, when the phone is idle, such interference can say a lot.
Of course, any of these signs cannot be called absolutely true, but nevertheless they make one wary. Although, even if nothing of the kind is observed for the device, this does not mean that they are not listening to it.
The sixth sign is the independent connection of functions. This is already a very alarming bell. Especially if periodically the phone itself turns on the Internet or the GPS function. What exactly will be turned on depends on the level of the spyware and on the phone itself, but this behavior cannot be ignored.
How not to be the defendant
In addition to the fact that there are articles that protect the human right to privacy, everyone should also know about the items whose purchase can be paid for.
To date, there are quite a few cases when a harmless purchase turned into big problems. And no one will listen to the explanations from the category "I wanted to make a joke on a friend." So, which of the gadgets can lead to the dock?
Section 138, first, defines such devices. Technical devices intended for domestic use, but having a form that is not obvious to their functions, are considered spyware. Everything seems to be clear, but at the same time not very clear. That is, they can condemn both for the camera, which is made in the form of a ballpoint pen, and for a smartphone. But if everything is clear with the camera and there are a lot of such cases in judicial practice, then what about a smartphone? The outcome of the case will depend on the judge. How she will interpret the intent, or how the investigating authorities will convey this information, the decision depends on it.
An example is a smart home. In the normal operating state, the sensors that are installed in it cannot transmit any information other than its functional information. But if the owner of the house decides to upgrade them and adds a tracking function, then he will break the law.
Back to the pens and other spy toys.Do not forget that a penny ballpoint pen "with a secret", bought on a Chinese site, can be very expensive for such a joker. Although there were no precedents with the wrong punishment in our country, it is worth noting that the preventive measures are quite severe. This means that by spending a few hundred rubles on a pen, you can subsequently lose not only a round sum, but also freedom.