Government wants to listen, tap, copy, record and intercept your messages via the telecommunication system through the Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunication Messages Bill before parliament, an IT expert, Maximus Ametorgor has said.
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Government to spy on you with new law
The Postal Packets and Telecommunication Messages Bill before parliament was referred to the Defense and Interior of Parliament last week by the Speaker, Edward Doe Adjaho.
In an exclusive interview with Pulse.com.gh, he said the new bill is a clear attempt by government to infringe on the privacy of people.
He said the bill is akin to the US National Security Agency (NSA) scandal in which it collected the telephone records of tens of millions of Americans.
The NSA, according to the Guardian and the Washington Post, tapped into the servers of google, Yahoo, Facebook and Microsoft to monitor online communication in a surveillance programme known as Prism.
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Verizon communications, one of America's largest telecoms providers, under a top secret court order, release its telephone data to the NSA on an "ongoing daily basis."
American citizens data were collected indiscriminately regardless of whether they are suspected of any wrongdoing.
"You can't vouch for the integrity of the government" when it comes peoples data, Ametorgor said.
Explaining further, he intimated that government could use peoples data negatively, including victimising and snooping on political opponents.
Reacting to suggestion that the bill is targeted at people deemed as security threat, Ametorgor said "it is the government who defines who is an ordinary person," adding that once the government decides to spy on you, "you are no longer an ordinary person."
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"If you want to monitor Maximus' call, it means I am no longer an ordinary citizen," he said.
He accused parliament and the executive of being sluggish on the Right to Information Bill, yet, are quick to pass the Postal Packets and Telecommunication Messages Bill.
He suggested the bill has a bad motive.
Ametogor called for the the document to be made public. In addition, he also called for extended deliberations on the matter.
The Postal Packets and Telecommunication Messages Bill was referred to the Defense and Interior of Parliament last week by the Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho.
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According to a member of the Defense and Interior Committee of parliament, Major Derrick Oduro (Rtd), the bill was brought by the sector minister.
He told Pulse.com.gh that the bill is meant to spy on people the national security see as a security threat to the nation, including drug dealers.
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