untitled design (1)

Learn Italian online

Search

Telephone Tapping Extravaganza

In some ways, one can almost understand why Berlusco and Co want to reduce the level of telephone tapping which goes on in the Living Museum. Well, I can now, after having heard the number phone tapping operations  which took place during 2007 in Italy on the news this evening.

Over in the CIA, FBI, NSA run US, although this is a little hard to believe, only around 1,700 telephone conversations were listened in on last year. While in France, the joys of telephone tapping led to around 20,000 calls being spied upon. In the UK only around 5,300 potential bad guys had their telephone calls bugged.

Meanwhile in the mafia HQ that is Italy, nearly 130,000 people managed to attract the attention of Italy’s security services last year. Wow! There must be one heck of a lot of bad guys in this country. Not to mention an awful lot of policemen who don’t do much all day apart from listening in on other peoples calls, and reading text messages and emails.

think in italian logo dark bg 1

Stop reading, start speaking

Stop translating in your head and start speaking Italian for real with the only audio course that prompt you to speak.

The figures telling of this veritable avalanche of phone tapping came from an Italian socio-political research institute called EURISPES. This organisation calculated that, back in 2005, one Italian in four had had his or her telephone conversations, text messages or emails intercepted by security services seeking instances of dodgy dealings.

Over the last 10 years or so, some 30 million Italians have come under surveillance of one type or another. This figure may even put the ECHELON efforts to shame. So much for Italy’s draconian privacy laws!

As a matter of interest, all the information on the level of telephone tapping surveillance appears to have been brought to light by none other than Berlusconi’s very own party. I wonder why.

Odd that not many people seem to be investing in the subject of my ‘The Politicians’ Favourite Cell Phone‘ post.

Most Popular

How to Make Restricted Traffic Areas Fairer.

Italy has many cities in which ZTLs exist. These Zone Traffico Limitato areas are designed to prevent thousands of cars clogging up Italy’s city centres, and to help reduce pollution levels.

Disdain For Democracy?

Silvio Berlusconi is now being formally investigated for interfering with the media in Italy. Apparently, Berlusconi is particularly irked with one Michele Santoro, the presenter of a political talk show called Annozero. It has to be said that Santoro and his team often probe into the seedier affairs of Italy’s current, and controversial, prime minister.

Categories

Related Posts

My Guest Post at Volette.com

OK, it’s up and running. If you wish, you can hop on over to Volette.com and see what I’ve written about, and find out what

Certosa di Pontignano

Jerusalem Studio School Summer Art Program in Tuscany

I was contacted recently by Rebecca Harp of the Jerusalem Studio School in connection with the launch of its summer art program in Tuscany, Italy. As Italy and art go together like good food and fine wine, both of which can also be found in abundance in Italy, I decided to help spread the Jerusalem Studio School word.