The flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Akufo Addo has asked Government to suspend the passing of the Postal Packets and Telecommunication Messages Bill.
According to him, the Bill will infringe on the privacy of people.
"The "Spy Bill" should not be passed. It's a major threat to individual freedom of expression and privacy," Nana Addo said this during his presentation of the 'Real State of the Nation Address' on Monday.
The 'Spy Bill', which was referred to the Defense and Interior of Parliament in early February by the Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho, is meant to 'spy' on people the national security see as a security threat to the nation, including drug dealers.
Civil society organisations as well as other IT experts have already kicked against the passage of the 'Spy Bill' for concerns it will infringe on the privacy of people.
ADVERTISEMENT
IT expert, Maximus Ametorgor has told Pulse.com.gh that 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.
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.
ADVERTISEMENT
Explaining further, he intimated that government could use peoples data negatively, including victimising and snooping on political opponents.
