Trust
Lawful Access Program
How Handset’s remote collection capabilities are made available to government agencies with the legal authority and independent oversight to use them.
What the program is
The Lawful Access Program makes Handset’s remote collection capabilities available to government agencies that have the legal authority to obtain data from mobile devices not in their possession, such as under a warrant or a national security authorization. The capabilities allow an authorized agency to collect data from a specified device for a specified period.
The program has operated in the United States since 2021 and has accepted applications from national agencies in allied nations since May 2024.
Who can apply
- National, state and federal law enforcement and national security agencies of the United States.
- National agencies of allied nations, subject to U.S. export control licensing.
- Agencies must demonstrate a legal framework that authorizes remote collection, and independent oversight of its use by a court, a judicial commissioner or an equivalent body.
Commercial organizations are not eligible.
How applications are reviewed
Each application is reviewed by the Responsible Use Council, which considers the applicant’s legal authority, oversight arrangements, record and intended use, and the human rights situation in the applicant’s country. The council may approve an application, approve it with conditions, or decline it. Approvals outside the United States also require an export license.
Conditions of use
- Each collection must be authorized under the agency’s law, and the authority must be recorded in Handset before collection begins.a
- Collection is limited to the devices and period the authority specifies.
- The agency must allow Tellwright to audit its use of the program on reasonable notice.
- Tellwright may suspend an agency’s access while it reviews credible information of misuse, and may end it.
What we disclose
For the safety of ongoing operations and the people involved in them, Tellwright does not disclose which agencies or governments take part in the program, the number of collections they conduct, or the identity of any person whose device is the subject of a collection. We report the number of applications the council reviews and approves each year.
a Authorities are recorded by the agency and are not verified by Tellwright. Where an agency’s law permits collection without prior judicial authorization, the authority recorded is the one that law provides. ↩