Law Enforcement Authorities' Special Requirements for GNSS

Abstract

Organised crime is a real threat in Europe with the emergence of international warehouses of crime. For improving their evidence-gathering abilities, law enforcement authorities (LEAs) are constantly seeking new technological recording, retrieving and monitoring solutions that would facilitate their combat against criminal organisations. The criminals’ counter measure activities, such as electronic counter-surveillance, jamming and constant changes in behaviour for preventing eavesdropping or physical surveillance are continuously increasing. The pressure to find new intelligent technologies, which are harder to detect, more strongly encrypted, longerlasting, quicker to install and more adaptive, is emerging and is a highpriority task. With regard to the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), LEAs have five operational and technological challenges: (1) commercial GNSS sensors do not fulfil the needs of LEAs; (2) cross-border operations are difficult because criminal nature has internationalised but LEAs are national organisations; (3) secure mobile communications is more and more important in all operations; (4) the surveillance data that LEAs collect should be valid in the court; and (5) LEAs’ operations should be transparent ensuring sufficient privacy safeguards for the public.