Pakistani authorities are monitoring more than 4 million citizens using advanced digital tools purchased from foreign private companies, such as China’s Geedge Network, according to a recent report by Amnesty International, titled “Shadow of Control: Censorship and Mass Surveillance in Pakistan”. At the core of Pakistan’s surveillance operation are two powerful systems: the Web Monitoring System (WMS 2.0), which acts as a national firewall that can block internet access, virtual private networks (VPNs), and specific websites, and the Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS), a mass surveillance platform that allows authorities to eavesdrop on phone calls, text messages, internet activities, and even geolocation data through domestic telecommunications providers. LIMS is supported by technology primarily supplied by a German company, Utimaco, and an Emirati company, Datafusion. Utimaco’s LIMS enables authorities to analyse subscriber data from telecommunications companies, while the processed information is accessible through Datafusion’s Monitoring Centre Next Generation. The methods may have changed, but Pakistan actually began surveilling its citizens decades ago. In the 1990s, such activities resulted in the rise and fall of governments, and Pakistan’s surveillance has continued to grow over time, according to a report in The Diplomat by Osama Ahmad. Nighat Dad, the founder and executive director of Digital Rights Foundation, told The Diplomat: “Available research and reports suggest that Pakistan has developed significant surveillance capabilities over the past decade.” In 1997, the Supreme Court ruled that state surveillance was illegal, holding it to be a breach of Article 14 of the Constitution, which secures the right to privacy. “Despite the legal and institutional safeguards and Pakistan’s international commitments under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) to prevent arbitrary interference, the absence of a comprehensive data protection law and regulation of surveillance technologies leaves citizens vulnerable to harassment, abuse, and continuous monitoring, undermining the effectiveness of existing protections,” said Dad. (IANS)
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