About CALEA

The CALEA Implementation Program (CIP) carries out the responsibilities assigned to the Attorney General in the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) and delegated to the Director of the FBI. Those responsibilities form the foundation of CIP's efforts to advance industry's required compliance with CALEA.

CALEA was intended to strike and maintain a balance between three competing national priorities: the public's right to privacy, the promotion of innovation and the communications industry's competitiveness, and preservation of law enforcement's ability to conduct electronic surveillance by mandating industry's compliance with certain technical requirements.

The CIP works with the law enforcement community and telecommunications industry at a variety of levels to ensure the development of strategic network-wide lawful intercept capabilities. CIP works with individual law enforcement agencies as well as representative groups and associations of Federal, State, and local law enforcement. The CIP understands the law enforcement community is composed of personnel with a diverse set of lawful intercept experiences and responsibilities within their respective agencies and tailors its support to those specific needs.

Interaction with the industry on technical issues (e.g., standards) requires the clarification of electronic surveillance needs and extensive analyses of technical specifications. Technical standards are critically important to industry and law enforcement as they can form the basis of how individual companies meet CALEA's compliance requirements. Advanced consideration of technical solutions benefits both industry and law enforcement as court orders can be expeditiously implemented using well-understood, CALEA-compliant methods.

The partnership of the FBI's CALEA implementation efforts with the NDCAC allows the NDCAC to leverage the FBI's CALEA expertise and intellectual capital to provide a more holistic suite of support services to the law enforcement community. The CIP continues to consult with law enforcement entities, fulfill all legislative and regulatory requirements related to CALEA and communicate CALEA-related information to the law enforcement community through a variety of forums and conferences.