In 2008, the Dutch police tapped an average of 1,946 phones on a daily basis, according to a letter written to parliament by Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin. “In 2008, a warrant for tapping was issued by the Public Prosecutor’s Office (OM) for 26,425 phone numbers, of which 90% were taps on mobile phones and 10% landline phones.”

Hirsch Ballin made a comparison of the Dutch figures with those of other countries. In France, 26,000 tapping warrants were issued in 2008, about the same as in the Netherlands. “In the US, the number of tapping warrants totalled 2,208 in 2007,” the minister reported. “In the UK, 1,881 warrants were issued, while Belgium had 3,603 tapping measures carried out in 2007. In Germany, 39,200 mobile phones and 5,078 landline phones were tapped in 2007.

Hirsch Ballin believes one cannot draw conclusions because the legal system differs in each country. However, it’s still interesting to point out that some European countries tap 10 times more phones than the US.

(Link: crossroadsmag)