ARCHIVED - Order CRTC 2000-676
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Order CRTC 2000-676 |
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| Ottawa, 21 July 2000 | |
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CRTC denies TELUS application to provide subscriber information to law enforcement agencies Tariff Notice 4 |
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| The CRTC denies a proposed TELUS Communications Inc. tariff that would provide, pursuant to a court order, confidential subscriber information to law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and wiretaps. The Commission finds that this aspect does not involve telecommunications services as defined under the Telecommunications Act. The tariff would also have allowed LEAs to obtain non-confidential reverse directory information. | |
| 1. | On 16 March 1999, Telecom Public Notice CRTC 99-10 initiated a proceeding to consider TELUS Communications Inc.'s (TCI) proposed service as set out in Tariff Notice 4. |
| 2. | On 4 August 1999, Telecom Public Notice CRTC 99-17 extended the deadline for comment to ensure full public discussion of the relevant issues. |
| 3. | The proposed service would be provided only to LEAs which include federal, provincial and municipal police services, as well as federal and provincial government departments with the legislative authority to issue warrants and subpoenas. |
| 4. | LEAs would be provided with customer name and service address associated with a specific listed telephone number, or alternatively, customer name and listed telephone number associated with a service address. |
| 5. | LEAs would also be provided with confidential information associated with non-published telephone numbers, customer credit, toll and miscellaneous record information, call details and copies of customers' bills when there is a court order, search warrant or equivalent legal authorization specifying the confidential information to be provided. |
| 6. | The proposed service would also provide for the activation and deactivation of wireline wiretaps for LEAs pursuant to an order of the court. |
Many parties believe CRTC not authorized to approve LEA tariff |
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| 7. | Comments opposing the proposed tariff were received from: |
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| 8. | None of the parties who opposed TCI's application suggested that the service not be provided by TCI to LEAs. They took issue with the necessity and appropriateness of a tariff for LEA service. Most submitted that the Commission does not have the jurisdiction to approve the application. |
| 9. | A number of the parties suggested that the proposed service should be provided to the LEAs free of charge. These parties submitted that the proposed tariff would significantly increase the costs associated with criminal investigation and diminish the effectiveness of law enforcement in Canada. |
| 10. | Comments supporting the proposed service were received from Call-Net Enterprises Inc., Rogers Cantel Inc. and Clearnet Communications Inc. |
Commission concludes it can't assume responsibility for LEA service |
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Provision of confidential information pursuant to a court order |
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| 11. | In the Commission's view, there is no compelling telecommunications policy reason for it to assume jurisdiction of the proposed provision of confidential information to LEAs pursuant to a court order. Based on the economic study filed by TCI, the revenue impact of the proposed tariff would not be significant. |
| 12. | In the absence of a compelling policy rationale for regulation of the activities in question under the Act, the Commission finds that the aspects of the proposed LEA service that are mandated by court orders are not telecommunications services within the meaning of the Act. The trigger for the activities in question is ultimately community interest in crime detection and prevention. The need for "services" from the telephone company is ancillary to this overriding objective. When taking into account the object and purpose of both the Telecommunications Act as a whole and the Criminal Code (pursuant to which the activities in question are mandated), the telecommunications aspect of the activities in question is ancillary to the main character, which is crime detection, crime prevention and law enforcement. In the circumstances, the Commission considers that compensation for compliance with court orders, notwithstanding the ancillary involvement of telecommunications, is best dealt with by the courts. |
| 13. | If there is a concern that the current regime (where compensation for compliance with court orders is left to the discretion of the courts) is not appropriate given the potentially mounting costs, it is open to Parliament to address the issue explicitly through legislative amendments. |
Provision of non-confidential information |
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| 14. | The non-confidential information to be provided under the proposed tariff would be of two types: |
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| 15. | Order CRTC 2000-253 denied a proposal by TCI and by TELUS Communications (Edmonton) Inc. to expand their existing directory assistance services to give listed name and/or address information when provided with a telephone number. |
| 16. | Order 2000-253 stated that the degree of detail in the information that would be provided to be inappropriate in light of privacy concerns. |
| 17. | In the circumstances, the Commission does not consider it appropriate to approve the proposal and denies the proposed service filed by TCI under Tariff Notice 4. |
| Secretary General | |
| This document is available in alternative format upon request and may also be examined at the following Internet site: http://www.crtc.gc.ca |
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