The U.S. Department of Justice released a joint statement this week stating that the respective governments of the United States and the United Kingdom are moving forward with plans to share digital resources to thwart crime. With telecommunications companies operating behind strict privacy protection laws, the agreement is designed to make telecom data more transparent in combatting international terrorism, human trafficking, and smuggling across borders. The Access to Electronic Data for the Purpose of Countering Serious Crime was initiated in 2019, and will activate on October 3, 2022.
The new agreement may well lead to more specific, targeted joint operations between both countries, according to The Crime Report. Criminal investigations conducted before this new agreement comes into force have been hampered by each country’s own legal provisions that have made data-sharing extremely difficult.
It will serve as an important tool to address trafficking and smuggling of vulnerable people across international borders and into countries like the U.S. and the U.K. – a huge undertaking that relies upon the telecommunications networks to operate. This is true also of international terrorism.
As TheCrimeReport.org notes, the multi-national agreement is expected to allow both the U.S. and the U.K. to more effectively tackle international organized crime. In the past, the ability to coordinate resources has been hindered by each country’s strict control over sharing digital data. Looking forward, telecommunications shared between U.S. and U.K. law enforcement will be defined as all communications traffic and data held by service providers such as phone and internet providers operating within the two countries.
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