From Iceland — Phone Company Employee May Have Been Wiretapped

Phone Company Employee May Have Been Wiretapped

Published November 11, 2011

An employee for a phone company may have had their phone tapped by their former spouse. The case is now being investigated.
The Post and Telecom Administration (PFS) received a complaint from the employee in question, who claimed that they had newly broken up with their spouse. The former spouse, in turn, allegedly began tapping the phone company employee’s phone.
PFS director Hrafnkell Gíslason told Fréttablaðið that while they have received a number of questions regarding wiretapping, this is the first instance of an actual complaint of wiretapping being lodged with the office.
Hrafnkell has promised that the matter will be fully investigated, in terms of whether wiretapping was used, how it was implemented, and how it can be prevented.
As it is, there is no strict regulation with regards to wiretapping. PFS has rules in place regarding how, who, and under what circumstances it can be used, but these regulations are not tightly enforced nor supervised.
Sævar Freyr Þráinsson, director of the telecom company Síminn, told Fréttablaðið that it is literally impossible for one of their employees to wiretap someone at will. He explains that the equipment to do so is in the hands of the police, and that for an employee to tap someone’s phone, they need to contact the authorities just to physically put the tap in place.
Sævar added that he agrees with recent remarks made by Minister of the Interior Ögmundur Jónasson on the matter, that regulations and controls regarding wiretapping need to be stricter.

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