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Pakistan's government is employing invasive #surveillance technology that can seriously infringe people's right to privacy once the pandemic is over. Pay attention now.
A thread.
A thread.
Contact tracing mechanism had already been put in place where PTA was geo-tracking covid-19 confirmed patients and contacting those who came in close proximity with them in the last 14 days, with the help of telecom data.
An April 14 story states 0.53 million SMS have been sent to suspected covid patients. Recipients reported stress given lack of clarity on govt's part about the process, reason, tech being used. We suspected it being surveillance tech, had no confirmation. https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/644276-pta-provides-facilitation-to-masses-to-combat-virus
On April 23, PM Imran Khan addressed a live fundraising telethon, and confirmed the use of surveillance tech to control covid-19 in Pakistan. This was the first time he had mentioned about the use of a tech of this nature. It was a passing comment with no more details.
He mentioned that ISI has employed the technology that they use to trace and target terrorists in the country. The casual mention of the use of this level of technology without delving into details is the first sign of the potential abuse of this tech in future.
Pakistan, of course, is not the first country who employed this tech. Israel, China, Singapore, South Korea have previously used similar tech to control the spread of the virus. Pakistan seems to have taken inspiration from them.
It tracks the 14-day movement of diagnosed patients, tracks people who came in contact with this person in the timeframe, and sends a message to them asking them to self-isolate. In Pakistan, there continues to be no discussion on the issue.
Initially there were conflicting reports on the type of tech being used. Where PM said it was ISI's own tech, Reuters report mentioned that Pakistan could potentially be one of the countries outsourcing contact tracing spy tool: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-spy-specialreport/special-report-cyber-intel-firms-pitch-governments-on-spy-tools-to-trace-coronavirus-idUSKCN22A2G1
The uncertainty was only because the authorities had not made the process of tracing individuals clear. Given the rich history of government crackdown on free speech and privacy of people in the country, this never stops to be worrisome.
. @pind_wave and I wrote for @DRM_News calling this practice a "national digital governance emergency that warrants people’s attention," and "a blatant disregard of people’s right to privacy." http://digitalrightsmonitor.pk/the-government-of-pakistan-should-avoid-reliance-on-digital-surveillance-technologies-to-combat-the-coronavirus-pandemic/
Connecting the dots, government has been trying to take control of citizens' information through various aggressive means. In only first 4 months of 2020 alone, it has passed or proposed three legislations infringing on privacy and free speech of people. More on this later.
While writing this thread, I looked up an AFP story that @dawn_com shared on May 28 titled "Pakistan deploys militant-tracking tech to hunt confirmed and suspected virus patients". Couldn't access it, probably taken down. Accessible on https://web.archive.org/web/20200528225232/https://www.dawn.com/news/1559897/pakistan-deploys-militant-tracking-tech-to-hunt-confirmed-and-suspected-virus-patients
The story is also accessible on @etribune here: https://tribune.com.pk/story/2231351/1-pakistan-uses-militant-tracking-technology-hunt-coronavirus/,
On @gulf_news here: https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/pakistan-uses-militant-tracking-technology-to-hunt-coronavirus-1.71727104,
On @dailytimespak here: https://dailytimes.com.pk/619685/pakistan-uses-militant-tracking-technology-to-hunt-coronavirus/,
On @YahooNews here: https://news.yahoo.com/pakistan-uses-militant-tracking-tech-hunt-virus-051916085.html
On @gulf_news here: https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/pakistan-uses-militant-tracking-technology-to-hunt-coronavirus-1.71727104,
On @dailytimespak here: https://dailytimes.com.pk/619685/pakistan-uses-militant-tracking-technology-to-hunt-coronavirus/,
On @YahooNews here: https://news.yahoo.com/pakistan-uses-militant-tracking-tech-hunt-virus-051916085.html
The report mentions that Pakistan is potentially using ISI tech that is "using geo-fencing and phone-monitoring systems that ordinarily are employed to hunt high-value targets including homegrown and foreign militants."
Geo-fencing tracks the target geographically.
Geo-fencing tracks the target geographically.
And phone-monitoring is, of course, real-time monitoring of your phone. Both previously used to track militants in the country.
Report also mentions that the intel is listening to covid patients phones to see if people around them are talking about similar symptoms.
Report also mentions that the intel is listening to covid patients phones to see if people around them are talking about similar symptoms.
This might sound unrealistic now given the cases have surpassed 71K in Pakistan, but always expect the worst from intelligence agencies. A possibility could be the practice of identifying keywords that flags alerts when they're used - I don't know.
Unrelated: We've known unreported cases where people were actively surveilled as well, and were later reached out to by personnel claiming to be from military and/or intel. This surveillance is legitimised via laws. See this: http://digitalrightsmonitor.pk/privacy-in-law/
This is all based on information that was unofficially acquired. Official clarity has not been provided despite the established need for transparency in instances like this.
. @mmfd_Pak and civil society org wrote a statement calling govt to limit use of digital surveillance tech:
"This is not an issue that requires measures stemming from a ‘national security’ approach." http://digitalrightsmonitor.pk/civil-society-and-concerned-citizens-urge-the-federal-and-provincial-governments-of-pakistan-to-limit-the-usage-of-digital-surveillance-measures-during-the-ongoing-coronavirus-pandemic/
"This is not an issue that requires measures stemming from a ‘national security’ approach." http://digitalrightsmonitor.pk/civil-society-and-concerned-citizens-urge-the-federal-and-provincial-governments-of-pakistan-to-limit-the-usage-of-digital-surveillance-measures-during-the-ongoing-coronavirus-pandemic/
While covid requires drastic measures, know that this practice will continue even after health emergency is over. The scope will change, but the abuse will remain.
We have been witnessing instances of privacy and free speech infringement that resulted in serious consequences. So where healthcare should be the priority right now, transparency, clarity & specification of the scope of use, & time limit need to be put forth immediately.
Privacy shouldn't be an afterthought. People shouldn't be made to choose between two basic rights: healthcare and privacy. Demand answers.
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