Talking On Cell Phone Can Be Far From Private Experts Say Eavesdropping Is Against The Law, But Easy To Do

It was a clear violation of federal wiretap law for someone to intercept and distribute the contents of House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s cellular phone conference, lawyers and communications experts said Friday.

Even so, Americans should take heed never to say anything on their 42 million cell phones “that they wouldn’t say on a crowded elevator,” in the words of one authority.

Interception of cell phone calls has been a criminal act since 1986, when those devices were included in federal wiretap statutes. But the technology of cell phones makes it much easier for conversations to be monitored or to go awry than is the case with hard-wired phones.

Already, examples are multiplying around the country - and indeed the world - of cell calls being heard by unintended ears, with sometimes damaging consequences.

A few years ago, aides of Sen. Charles Robb, D-Va., obtained the tape of a political opponent’s cell phone call. Ultimately, after an ensuing uproar, they pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and were fined.

Similarly, Great Britain’s royal family was embarrassed in 1993 when a slew of tabloids and magazines published the racy transcripts of a mobile phone conversation between Prince Charles and his married mistress, Camilla Parker Bowles.

The act provides for penalties for a first offense of as much as a year in prison and a $5,000 fine. But attorneys said in the Gingrich case it might be difficult to determine the perpetrator.

The number of cell phone users doubles every 18 months, said Mike Altschul, a lawyer for the Washington-based Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association. In addition, there are 10 to 15 million scanners in use capable of picking up cell conversations within five to 10 miles of the source.

Weitzner said ordinary scanners easily can be modified to search for cell phone conversations.