(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has expressed concern over proposed changes to the 2001 Bangladesh Telecommunications Act, which would tighten control over e-mail traffic, legalise invasion of privacy and undermine free expression. The proposed changes would also permit evidence based on e-mail interception to be used in court. “Respect for confidentiality of personal information obtained from Internet […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has expressed concern over proposed changes to the 2001 Bangladesh Telecommunications Act, which would tighten control over e-mail traffic, legalise invasion of privacy and undermine free expression. The proposed changes would also permit evidence based on e-mail interception to be used in court.
“Respect for confidentiality of personal information obtained from Internet service providers (ISPs) or through e-mail messages must be an unshakeable principal of any democratic society,” RSF said. “New information technology allows for greater monitoring of personal messages, and the Bangladeshi government must respect the privacy of its citizens and their right to communicate freely.”
The Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has reportedly drafted amendments to the 2001 law at the request of the intelligence agencies and the Law Ministry, which have cited national security reasons and the need to fight terrorism.
The intelligence agencies want access to ISPs’ subscriber databases and permission to use material gathered through currently-illegal interception of private e-mail in court cases. One academic told “The Daily Star” newspaper that such interceptions “could be used as a weapon to blackmail people.”
The intelligence agencies also want to amend Section 30 of the Telecommunications Act, concerning privacy, to read: “. . . to ensure protection of the privacy of telecommunications subject to the national security laws.” This kind of general clause would allow intelligence officials disturbingly greater scope to intervene.
Some freedom of expression activists say they fear the amendments would turn the country into a “police state.” The changes also seem to contradict the 2001 Act’s main purpose of setting up an independent commission – the BTRC – to regulate telecommunications. The way now seems open to transfer the BTRC’s powers back to the Telecommunications Ministry.
Akhteruzzaman Manju, president of the Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA), warned in “The Daily Star” that the act could only be amended with the permission of the International Telecommunications Union and after debate in Parliament.
The text of the law can be read in English, French and Spanish on RSF’s website: http://www.rsf.org
