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Providers of voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) solutions have the benefit of being able to monitor a program’s surveillance and security. The FBI is taking it a step forward, though, as it recently requested that VoIP providers voluntarily support backdoor access to users’ phone calls.

The FBI has reportedly created a new Web surveillance unit, charged with the task of developing new ways to intercept online, wireless, and VoIP communications. According to CNET, the Domestic Communications Assistance Center (DCAC) is designed to cover a relatively broad scope of surveillance- and security-related issues.

Its mandate includes interpreting Skype (News - Alert) messages, building wiretap devices, and serving as a “surveillance help desk” for local, state and federal authorities. The unit will also be responsible for analyzing any data a provider or social network any submit in response to court orders.

The FBI has long pushed for a more comprehensive approach to electronic surveillance, claiming that recent encryption developments have made it far more difficult for investigators to intercept communications. In February, then-general counsel Valerie Caproni testified before the House Judiciary Committee, arguing for new legislation that would require social networks and wireless providers to have clear procedures for divulging encrypted data when requested to do so by the government.

Internal documents show that the DCAC has been in the works since at least 2008, when FBI director Robert Mueller received a briefing on it. Since then though, the FBI has remained tight lipped.

The FBI did provide a statement on its new center, emphasizing that the unit will only provide the technical foundation for wiretap investigations, without actually performing any surveillance itself.

“It is important to point out that the NDCAC will not be responsible for the actual execution of any electronic surveillance court orders and will not have any direct operational or investigative role in investigations,” the statement reads. “It will provide the technical knowledge and referrals in response to law enforcement’s requests for technical assistance.”

Jennifer Lynch, an attorney at the Electronic Froniters Foundation is concerned about the program. “We should know more about the program and what the FBI is doing,” she said. “Which carriers they’re working with, which carriers they’re having problems with. They’re doing the best they can to avoid being transparent.”

Other sources report that FBI has, in fact, not been promoting the bureau’s push for expanded wiretapping capabilities, but rather asking how that can be implemented while causing minimal disruption for the companies with networks that would be directly accessed. FBI officials have apparently been meeting with industry giants like Facebook (News - Alert), Google, Microsoft (which owns Skype and Hotmail), and Yahoo, among others to reach that solution.