Privacy International recently reported that South Africa and the UK have admitted to running mass surveillance programmes, intercepting communications in bulk from citizens and foreigners.
In the case of South Africa, details of our government’s bulk interception capabilities came from an answering affidavit to a High Court case between amaBhungane journalist Sam Sole and South Africa’s intelligence agencies. The answering affidavit was filed by attorneys on behalf of the Minister of State Security, the Office of the Interception Centres, the National Communications Centre, and the State Security Agency. They revealed that they tap or record “transnational signals”, including data sent over undersea fibre optic cables that connect South Africa to the rest of the world.
While the respondents argued that bulk interception is aimed at foreign signal intelligence, they also admit that they can’t distinguish between foreign and domestic communication.
So although there is great privacy laws in South Africa as well as an excellent Constitution there could be some challenges around execution. One can then only expect that citizens may want to take their own steps to protect their privacy. Blanket surveillance of private communications amounts to an unlawful breach of an individual’s privacy. This is the reason why interception powers need to be regulated by a judicial system – it is a balance of powers that prevents abuse and ensures democracy. One can only be thankful that there are such organisations as journalists, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Privacy International, ProPublica, etc to ensure there is a balance. A citizen can no longer rely on their elected government or state to protect their rights to privacy.
#security #privacy #southafrica
#^South Africa has been conducting mass surveillance on its citizens
South Africa is one of two countries which have recently admitted to running mass surveillance programmes.