News

Telenor says government is seeking direct access to customers’ personal data

Leading telecommunications service provider Telenor Myanmar has revealed that the government aims to gain direct access to the personal data of its customers.

The move, which would bypass the need to request the data from service providers, “creates an opportunity for misuse and breach of customers’ human rights,” the company said in a statement released on December 3.

“The government intends to be able to directly access each operator and ISP’s systems without case-by-case approval,” according to the statement, which was released after the company’s seventh annual Sustainability Briefing.

Telenor said that it had received 327 requests for the release of customers’ communication data since October 2014, but rejected 110 of them for unspecified reasons. 

The others, it said, were related to “life-or-death situations such as murder, drug and missing person investigations.” 

At present, government agencies may obtain court orders giving them permission to access users’ personal data, but still require the cooperation of service providers in order to do so.

But that would change if the government acquired the technical means to gain direct access, said Telenor in an email to Myanmar Now.

“Many countries have provided licensed telecommunications operators with gateways and nodes in their networks in order to officially intercept,” the company said, adding that such systems are not currently employed on its network.

“Strong legal protections are required for citizens and operators to ensure that the government’s interceptions do not impact on human rights,” it added.

Htike Htike Aung, the executive director of Myanmar ICT for Development Organization (MIDO), agreed that the current legal framework was inadequate.

“There must be a good framework for lawful interception. Without it, government can retrieve our data at any time and can keep track of it. There is more concern for journalists, activists, and human rights activists,” she said.

Ye Naing Moe, the director of the National Cyber ​​Security Centre at the Ministry of Transport and Communications, declined to answer questions about these concerns in detail.

Telenor has previously faced controversy over its decision to comply with government orders to block websites and restrict access to the Internet in Rakhine and Chin states.

It noted that in the past year, it had received 13 requests to block more than 2,200 websites. These included sites featuring pornography, child abuse, misinformation, gambling, and cybersecurity threats.

It also highlighted the implementation of a SIM re-registration directive amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic as a key human-rights concern for the industry.

Related Articles

Back to top button
Close

Job Vacancy: Digital Specialist

Job Vacancy: Digital Specialist