휴대전화 감청과 통신비밀보호법에 관한 시론 -비교법적 고찰을 중심으로-

Abstract

As of Dec 1997, the number of fixed-line phone subscribers, which had been steadily increasing, has decreased by almost half from 20.4 million to 12.5 million, whereas, as of May 2021, the number of mobile phone subscribers, including IoT lines, has increased more than a ten-fold from 6.9 million to 71.45 million during the same period. However, the development of technology has both positive and negative sides. The rapid change in the digital environment has introduced new methods of crime, and the traditional concept of security, which has been limited mainly to the military, is rapidly evolving into new concepts such as terrorism and cybercrime and accordingly there are voices demanding a change in the method of wiretapping, the aim of which is to institutionalize mobile phone wiretapping. The current Protection of Communications Secrets Act does not prohibit mobile phone wiretapping. In other words, it is possible to wiretap mobile phones under the current system. However, due to widespread negative cognition such as the controversy over illegal wiretapping by intelligence agencies in the past and concerns over surveillance of Koreans, cooperation from telecommunication service providers cannot be obtained, indicating that the law and reality are deadlocked at some point. In this regard, this paper is intended to review the laws related to wiretapping in major foreign countries, focusing on whether or not mobile phone wiretapped, grounds and procedures for wiretapping, and measures to control misuse and abuse with the aim of examining whether mobile phone wiretapping is properly controlled while it is allowed, and what the means of control are and to derive the measures we can refer to.