Research report 2008 - Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law
Surveillance of Telecommunications Traffic Data
Authors
Albrecht, Hans-Jörg; Kilchling, Michael
Departments
Kriminologie (Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Hans-Jörg Albrecht)
MPI für ausländ. und internat. Strafrecht, Freiburg
Summary
The access to so-called telecommunications traffic data is an investigative method which has increasingly been resorted to in recent years. It not only complements “classic” forms of telecommunications interception but has in fact evolved to form an independent investigative method in its own right that can be implemented in both a cost effective and economical manner. Consequently, its use has spread beyond the areas of computer related crime and data theft to take in more conventional crimes – not as the “last” resort, but rather as the “first”.