Dawn editorial condemns PTA-ordered telecom surveillance of citizens

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published last year |  JP Staff Reporter

ISLAMABAD—Daily Dawn on Wednesday criticized the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) for ordering telecom companies to implement a mass surveillance system, turning Pakistan into an Orwellian state.

In an editorial titled "Orwellian State," the paper stated, "PTA has forced telecom companies to implement a mass surveillance system through which up to 4 million citizens can be monitored at any given time with the click of a button."

The editorial commented on an order by Judge Babar Sattar of the Islamabad High Court, which revealed that telecom companies were mandated to "finance, import, and install" the Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS) at a designated "surveillance centre" for use by designated agencies.

According to the order, "From the surveillance centre, a designated agency initiates a track and trace request through the click of a button, in relation to any SIM or IMEI number or MSISDN identity belonging to a consumer... the request goes through the LIMS in an automated manner, which is then connected with the network of telecom licensees."

The judge noted that citizens' data was being collected without human intervention or legal warrant, including "the entire content of communication between consumers undertaken through the network of the telecom licensee, including audio and video content and web page records," being shared with unnamed agencies, according to news reports.

The editorial highlighted the immense potential for abuse of such detailed information collected on citizens. "The fact that any citizen at any time can be made vulnerable by the state simply listening to and watching what they are doing and using that information to blackmail them would make anyone feel insecure."

The paper recalled the "leaked" phone calls involving prominent citizens that recently dominated news headlines and social media, prompting petitions from some affected individuals against intrusive state surveillance.

While acknowledging the justification for monitoring known criminals, terrorists, and foreign spies, the editorial argued that implementing a system to spy on ordinary citizens is a perverse abuse of power that must be stopped immediately. "The state must be required to secure legal warrants for initiating surveillance of any individual. Such immense power should not be accumulated by any institution as the potential for abuse and the consequences for personal freedoms can be disastrous."