The Difficulty of Tapping VoIP Calls #
Though most VoIP operators have now built in a way for authorities to monitor your calls, there’s still no good way for authorities to get into Skype. Whether this is a great thing or a troubling prospect probably depends on your feelings about privacy and your fear of terrorism.
As with other internet technologies and real-world rules, the authorities will probably always be behind in their bid to eavesdrop on criminals, and the legitimate desire for privacy and security will continue to come into conflict with the needs of law enforcement. So far, evidence from intercepted VoIP calls has not been used in court; e-mails are often presented as evidence, but they are easily retrieved direct from the hard disks of the sender or receiver, or from corporate back-up tapes, rather than being intercepted in transit. But once intercepted traffic is presented as evidence, it is sure to reignite the debate over civil liberties and internet wiretapping.