Unclear and even strict laws in African countries are holding back mobile phone company Vodafone from fully disclosing the nature of state-backed spying on the continent.

On Friday, UK-headquartered Vodafone unveiled its inaugural ‘Law Enforcement Disclosure’ report, which provides “a detailed insight into the legal frameworks, governance principles and operating procedures associated with responding to demands for assistance from law enforcement and intelligence agencies across 29 countries.”

Described as a ‘world-first’ for the global telecoms industry, Vodafone says its report “covers agency and authority demands for lawful interception and communications data for the period 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014.”

“We have not included countries in which we operate where no such demands were received, nor have we included countries where there may be some form of Vodafone brand presence (for example, through a partner market relationship) but where Vodafone does not own or control a licensed communications operator,” says Vodafone in its report.

The report; in turn, focuses on demands accounting for the “overwhelming majority of all such activity”: lawful interception and access to communications data.

Lawful interception involves instances where governments have powers to order communications operators to allow them to snoop on certain network users. Conversely, access to communications data involves analysing small packets of data related to a device’s activities, which are logged on the operator’s systems. For example, access to communications data could involve an intelligence agency demanding details of all users visiting a particular website.

Vodafone operates in Africa via its subsidiary Vodacom: a mobile operator with over 50 million subscribers in countries such as South Africa, Mozambique, Ghana, Tanzania and the Democratic republic of the Congo (DRC). Vodafone also has a controlling stake in Kenya’s biggest mobile operator Safaricom, while, the UK phone company also has an operation in Egypt.

But while Vodafone’s ‘Law Enforcement Disclosure’ report discloses in-depth detail about laws pertaining to communications interception in seven African countries, the company reveals very little about the nature of these requests.

• In Egypt, Vodafone disclosure of the country’s lawful interception and access to communications data is deemed unlawful.
• “Whilst the precise legal position regarding disclosure of aggregate statistical information is unclear, local criminal laws contain a large number of provisions prohibiting the disclosure of national security-related material and other matters related to law enforcement,” says the report about Egypt.
• In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), there has been no technical implementation of lawful interception. But Vodafone has recorded 436 instances of access to communications data.
• In Ghana, Vodafone says there has been no technical implementation of lawful interception while the company is awaiting guidance on whether it can disclose information on access to communications data in the country.
• “The legal position is unclear regarding whether or not it would be lawful for Vodafone to disclose statistics related to agency and authority communications data demands,” says Vodafone regarding its Ghanaian operation.
• In Kenya, Vodafone also says there has been no technical implementation of lawful interception, while the company is awaiting guidance on whether it can disclose information on access to communications data in the country.
• “The legal position is unclear regarding whether or not it would be lawful for Vodafone to disclose statistics related to agency and authority communications data demands,” says Vodafone of Kenya.
• Lesotho has racked up 488 requests for communications data while there has been no request for lawful interception.
• Mozambique has not asked Vodafone to implement lawful interception while “the legal position is unclear regarding whether or not it would be lawful for Vodafone to disclose statistics related to agency and authority communications data demands.”
• In South Africa, the disclosure of lawful interception and communications data is deemed “unlawful”.
• Tanzania has no instances of lawful interception while Vodafone has recorded 98,765 instances of access to communications data demands in the country.

Ultimately, Vodafone says it is beholden by laws “designed to protect national security and public safety or to prevent or investigate crime and terrorism.”

But the company stresses it does not actively seek to infringe on privacy rights.

“The agencies and authorities that invoke those laws insist that the information demanded from communications operators such as Vodafone is essential to their work,” adds the company.

“Vodafone is committed to meeting its obligations to respond to agencies’ and authorities’ lawful demands but will not go beyond what is mandated in law,” notes the firm.