Let's talk about the decree on eavesdropping

The privacy of people whose telephone, telematic and environmental wiretapping are not relevant for the investigations is safeguarded. This is the cornerstone of the Legislative Decree, approved by the Council of Ministers, which intervenes on interception of communications or communications. “The abuse is put to an end,” Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said. In fact, the text provides: "the prohibition of transcription, even summary, of communications or conversations deemed irrelevant for the investigations, both for the object and for the subjects involved, as well as those concerning personal data defined as sensitive by law". Therefore, the decree implements a revision of the rules on wiretapping, a fundamental investigation tool, with the aim of making the safeguarding of interests worthy of protection at the constitutional level more balanced, or, on the one hand, the freedom and secrecy of correspondence and any other form of communication and, on the other, the right to information. All in order to exclude, within reasonably certain times and close to the conclusion of the investigations, any reference to persons only occasionally involved in the interception and therefore prevent the undue disclosure of facts and references to persons unrelated to the object of the investigative activity. The new discipline provides first for the filing of conversations and communications, as well as the related documents, and only subsequently for the acquisition of the relevant and usable ones and the contextual excerpt, with final destination to the confidential archive, of those irrelevant and unusable. And the public prosecutor is identified as the guarantor of the confidentiality of the documentation, as he has the custody of the irrelevant and unusable material in a confidential archive, with the faculty of listening and examination, but not of copy, by the defenders and judge, until the conclusion of the acquisition procedure. Furthermore, the previous model centered on the so-called “excerpt hearing” is overcome, characterized by the fact that all the interception material was immediately in the file of the preliminary investigations. The new discipline on the interception of communications or conversations goes, for the first time, to regulate the use of computer detectors in portable electronic devices (the so-called Trojan horses). In particular, it is envisaged that these devices cannot be kept active without limits of time or space, but must be activated remotely in accordance with the provisions of the public prosecutor in their investigation program and that, among other things, they must be deactivated. if the interception takes place in a home environment, unless there is evidence that the criminal activity under investigation is taking place in this context or that the investigation itself does not concern the most serious crimes, including mafia and terrorism . Lastly, simplification is expected for the telephone and telecoms interceptions of public officials when investigating for crimes against public administration. The text provides for the introduction into the Criminal Code of the crime of "dissemination of filming and recording of fraudulent communications". The law provides for the imprisonment of up to four years for anyone who, in order to damage the reputation or image of others, disseminates, by any means, audio or video footage, made fraudulently, of private meetings or recordings, of conversations, including telephone or telematic ones, carried out in his presence or with his participation. The punishment is excluded if the diffusion of the filming or the recordings takes place to exercise the right of defense or the right to press. The crime is punishable by filing a complaint from the injured person. The magistrates are half satisfied. “The effort is appreciable. The objective of fully protecting the privacy and confidentiality of those who have nothing to do with investigations has been centered. The use of computer detectors is, however, the weakest part of the reform, because it risks damaging the investigations, not letting us keep up with the technological pace with the criminals ”, said Eugenio Albamonte, the president of the National Magistrates Association. Trojans are currently allowed for investigations into mafia, terrorism and association crimes, the latter having been eliminated by the decree approved by the government. The Privacy Guarantor did not comment on the legislative decree approved by the Gentiloni government, but Antonello Soro, in April, warned against the "media processes on the web" triggered by the publications of wiretapping, guarantee information "anticipated" by newspapers and relaunched from one site to another as if they were convictions, photos of defendants sometimes even in detention, disclosed on the net without filters. Here is the warning from Antonello Soro, Privacy Guarantor: “The effects on the person of the mediation of the process are, if possible, even more serious. By pouring on the network investigative documents in their entirety, the suspect and third parties, in any capacity whatsoever involved in the process, are exposed, revealing often very private aspects of their life, irrelevant for investigative purposes, with sometimes irreparable damage in family life and report. Much of this news remains in the Network, forever, accessible with search engines even by typing a name. The persistence of these news on the web thus constitutes an "end of sentence never" regardless of how the trial is concluded, due to the different resonance that acquittals have compared to charges.

Let's talk about the decree on eavesdropping