Lawful interception
Definition
Court-authorised real-time capture of the content of communications in transit, such as telephone calls, emails, or instant messages. Requires a higher legal threshold than access to stored data in most jurisdictions because it is prospective and captures private content as it is created.
Related terms
- Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT)
- A bilateral or multilateral treaty under which signatory states agree to assist each other in gathering evidence for criminal investigations. MLATs define...
- Chain of custody
- The documented chronological record of who collected, handled, transferred, and examined a piece of evidence. For digital evidence, chain of custody includes...
- CLOUD Act
- The Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act (US, 2018). Clarifies that US service providers must comply with valid US legal process...
- Exculpatory evidence
- Evidence that tends to clear a suspect of guilt. Investigators have a professional and, in many jurisdictions, a legal duty to document...
- Production order
- A court order compelling a person or service provider to produce specific documents or data that already exist. Covers subscriber records, account...
- Proportionality
- The legal principle, central to European human rights law and to many constitutional systems, that any interference with a fundamental right must...
- Search warrant
- A judicial order authorising officers to enter and search a specified place and seize specified items. In most systems it must describe...
- Subscriber data
- The registration information a service provider holds about an account holder: name, address, email address, phone number, payment details, and account creation...
- Traffic data (metadata)
- Data about a communication rather than its content: who communicated with whom, when, for how long, and from what IP address or...
Explained in these topics
- Lawful Access, Interception Law and Privacy ProtectionsCourt-authorised real-time capture of the content of communications in transit, such as telephone calls, emails, or instant messages. Requires a higher legal t...
- Legal and Ethical Foundations of Cyber InvestigationsLegally authorised real-time monitoring of communications, typically requiring court approval or a ministerial warrant. Governed by statutes such as the US Ele...