Postuat Recordon (11.4210): costs of interception of telecommunications in the context of criminal proceedings.
20.03.2014: Depreciation in connection with the consultation of the business 13.025
Submitted text
The Federal Council is instructed to commission a study with alternatives to the current situation in order to drastically reduce the costs of monitoring telecommunications traffic in the context of criminal proceedings, which are charged to the investigating authorities.
Justification
The costs of monitoring telecommunications traffic as part of criminal proceedings are always a problem: They are often prohibitive. However, once the legal requirements for such a measure have been met, it is unacceptable that its implementation should be hampered by excessive costs. In addition, an accused person can be saddled with massively and unjustifiably increased procedural costs. Nor can it be justified that the companies concerned should be able to demand more than the marginal costs they incur as a result of these measures. As flexible and convenient as communication is, especially thanks to mobile telephony and the Internet, it is also clear that these technologies are associated with higher risks for public safety. It is therefore no more than right that the concessionaires, who are the only ones to profit from the lucrative messaging business, should participate in the police’s fight against the risks thus created. The new ordinance on fees, which will come into force in 2012, will have practically no impact on the tariff structure for the interception of telecommunications. The monitoring of the antenna search is much too expensive, since not only the cost of 2200 francs according to CS 5 is incurred to determine which antennas and radio cells are included in the monitoring, but also the cost of searches in the databases, this activity depending on the number of radio cells, which is very high in cities. Thus, the cost of such surveillance often amounts to tens of thousands of francs. In one recent case, it is said to have been almost 60,000 francs. However, the calculation per radio cell is arbitrary. The data is often stored in one and the same database. The number of radio cells therefore has only a minor influence on the amount of work involved. In addition, this is purely an IT service. Such high amounts cannot be seriously justified economically.
Statement of the Federal Council
The Federal Council is aware of the cost and interest issues involved in monitoring postal and telecommunications traffic. There is a tension between the interests of the law enforcement authorities and the interests of the telecommunications service providers (TSPs) and the legal mandate of the Confederation. In response to interpellation Müller 11.3063, the Federal Council has held out the prospect of a cost and process analysis.
Article 16 paragraph 1 of the Federal Act on the Surveillance of Postal and Telecommunications Traffic (Büpf; SR 780.1) stipulates that the facilities required for surveillance are the responsibility of the TSP. The latter receive appropriate compensation from the ordering law enforcement authorities for expenses incurred for the costs of the individual surveillance measures. Accordingly, Article 31 of the Ordinance on the Surveillance of Postal and Telecommunications Traffic (Vüpf; SR 780.11) provides that the FSP service shall invoice the law enforcement authorities for the services rendered in accordance with the Ordinance on Fees and Compensation for the Surveillance of Postal and Telecommunications Traffic (GebV-ÜPF; SR 780.115.1).
The cost analysis should help the legislature to reassess the structure of cost allocation by means of compensation and fees within the framework of the total revision of the FÜPF. The detailed results of the cost analysis can also be used to determine appropriate compensation for the TSP in the context of the revisions of the Vüpf and GebV-ÜPF. The revision of the GebV-ÜPF, which came into force on January 1, 2012, was not aimed at adjusting the level of fees, but merely served to incorporate into the ordinance the monitoring measures that had developed over many years of practice.
In the context of the current total revision of the Büpf, the legislator has the opportunity to decide on an adjustment of the existing fee and compensation system. In doing so, the various interests must be taken into account: the law enforcement authorities demand high-quality and seamless surveillance, while the TSPs want all costs arising from surveillance measures to be covered. For its part, the Confederation is bound by the principles of cost recovery and equivalence when it comes to passing on the costs arising from surveillance measures.
Based on the results of the analysis, the Federal Council will submit a regulatory proposal in the dispatch for the attention of parliament on the overall cost allocation of surveillance measures in postal and telecommunications traffic, taking into account the divergent interests of the players involved. The Federal Council is prepared to include the concerns of the present postulate in the clarifications.