The Prothom Alo report, ‘Govt to launch advanced surveillance system before elections’, is quite frightening for the citizens who use mobile phones.
Article 7 of the constitution stipulates that all powers in the republic belong to the people, and their exercise on behalf of the people shall be effected only under, and by the authority of, the constitution.
The report noted that the government is all set to introduce a new system to surveil mobile phones at a time when the country is approaching the next parliamentary polls. The system – which is estimated to cost Tk 2 billion to be installed by the operators – will enable the police and intelligence agencies to access the precise location of a mobile phone user.
A surveillance system is still in place, but it does not provide the precise location of a mobile phone user. Under the current system, it is possible to identify merely the area where a mobile user is located, but the precise location remains untracked.
The new system, however, will provide precise location of mobile phones, allowing authorities to determine even the specific building a user is in, as well as to track the movement of a large group through artificial intelligence (AI) at a time.
Under the existing system, it is tough to track a large number of people at a time as the officials have to gather information individually through a manual system. In contrast, the new system will use AI and make it easier to analyse the geo-location data of thousands of people simultaneously.
The new surveillance system has been named as Integrated Lawful Interception System (ILIS).
France’s Intelligence Online in a report on 17 March in 2022 said Bangladesh has bought spy tech to intercept Telegram, an internet-based messaging service.
Such a move must call the authorities’ intention into question as the next national election is supposed to take place at the beginning of January. Is the government going to rob the citizens' privacy? It not only goes against the constitution, but also human rights.
It is more surprising to learn that the mobile phone operators will bear the expenses of the new surveillance system. Under no circumstances, they will meet the expenses with their own fund, rather opt for collecting it from the users.
The section-97(Ka) of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Act noted that on the grounds of national security and public order, the government may empower certain government authorities (intelligence agencies, national security agencies, investigation agencies, or any officer of any law enforcement agency) to suspend or prohibit the transmission of any data or any voice call, and record or collect user information relating to any subscriber to a telecommunications service.
According to experts, the scope of surveillance on any individual is kept open in civilised democratic countries as per the order of any court, not in general.
It is crucial to keep in mind that the state and the government are not the same. Whichever step a government takes to safeguard the state, all citizens will extend their unwavering support. But they will not accept if the government surveils the citizens, considering its criticisms as 'dangerous' for the state.
Even a move to run surveillance on citizens in the interest of state security should be ordered by the court. Our prime objection regarding the recently abolished Digital Security Act (DSA) or the newly legislated Cyber Security Act (CSA) is also the same. A police official never possesses the authority to decide a citizen as a patriot or a traitor.
The new interception system will rob both the individual freedom and privacy of the citizens. Therefore, we hope the government will step away from the project of installing the new surveillance system.