Mobile phone calls to be monitored in Latvia

The Latvian government is currently considering stepping up internal spying activities in the country, following a request by the national security commission and the parliament's defense and internal affairs committee to fast-track new legislative changes in the telecommunication law. The new amendments, if adopted, would allow Latvia's Constitution Protection Office (CPO), the country's top intelligence agency, to start eavesdropping on mobile phone calls via the country's two mobile phone operators, Latvijas Mobilais Telefons (LMT) and Tele2, with phone tapping equipment the agency bought last year. Dzintars Kudums, chairman of the Defense and Internal Affairs Committee, said the government's decision on using this sort of equipment for information gathering is long overdue. Last year, the parliament decided Latvia's top intelligence agency should have the opportunity to listen in on the country's mobile phone callers. For this, the CPO was given 819,000 lats ($1.35 million) and permission to purchase phone tapping equipment. There will, however, be additional costs when the gear is incorporated with the two Latvian mobile phone operators' in-house systems.