Electronic communication is not safe

Feb 13, 2019 Letters

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Dear Editor,

There are certain matters that pop up from time to time in the public domain that people tend to shy away from commenting on. One such issue but which is twofold, is public security and/or national security.
Ordinary folk prefer not to go public on such matters either because of fear of reprisals, or simply because commonsense tells them they should keep away from matters involving the long arm of the State Security and law enforcement.
Security matters, be they of a public, national or cyber character are not sufficiently discussed in mainstream media save for the occasional editorial and reports on crimes committed or matters before the courts.
A case in point is the safety and security of students, teachers and parents at both public and private schools.
It took the recent brutal attack on Mr. Brian O’Toole for this matter to surface, flung in the face of John Public and for the police to act.
What seems certain is that the problem was festering for quite some time and like an unhealed sore all that was needed was a prick for purulent to start flowing.
But more glaring incidents in rapid succession were the recent bomb scares/threats at other schools, the University of Guyana and the Office of the Ombudsman.
Bomb scares are not unusual to Guyana. They usually occur at times of political tension and when the country is gearing up for elections.
It is to be expected that law enforcement, therefore, would have built up the technical and human resource capacity to respond effectively to such threats/attacks.
Moreover, given the imminent elections seasons, the GPF and the Ministry of Public Security should have already anticipated a spate of bomb scares and issued ADVISORIES and WARNINGS through the print and electronic media as well as on personal electronic devices with the help of service providers such as GT&T and DIGICEL.
While there is nothing consistent with respect to age, ethnicity, place of abode or work of perpetrators. nor is there a pattern as to when, where and why such acts are perpetrated save for public mischief, the intent is to disrupt the peace and good order of a community, or place of work or study in Guyanese society.
The point is that it is illegal to do so if and when incontrovertible evidence is produced to prosecute the alleged offender.
Apart from the threat to life and limb and to public safety and security, the recent occurrences targeting the University of Guyana, schools and public buildings must be viewed from two other critical dimensions.
First, the personal dimension. Electronic communication nowadays is no holy cow. There is absolutely no privacy when communicating online.
The view held by many Guyanese that end to end encryption of emails and WhatsApp messages, phone calls and digital files,is mistaken. None of these platforms are secure; contents can be used and seen by others.
Data on any mobile phone, laptop or notebook of any user can be hacked by hackers on the ‘Dark Web’ or traded by companies in the electronic communications business.
Surveys have revealed that commitments notwithstanding, little or nothing is done by companies to protect the personal data of an unsuspecting user.
Personal data of a user can be sold to so-called ‘data brokers’ who in turn sell the data to other companies who would have compiled lists of political leaders and activists, Ministers of Government, Parliamentarians, official office holders, Magistrates and Judges, Diplomats, law enforcement officers, journalists and other persons of interest to them.
The ‘data brokers’ are also in the shady business of tracking data on mobile phones or laptops with a view to selling the data of unsuspecting users to other companies engaged in the business of illegally harvesting personal data.
This brings us to the second dimension. In the process of trading personal data room is left for law enforcement and national security agencies to harvest and/or purchase data personal to users from unscrupulous ‘data brokers.’
Experts have provided incontrovertible evidence showing that ‘Facebook likes’ can be used to establish who is the user, their political affiliation, where they live and work as well as their sexual orientation.
The harvesting of electronic intelligence can be extremely useful for law enforcement in their fight against money launderers, drug and arms traffickers, traffickers in persons, persons engaged in terrorist acts and persons who use telecommunications networks or a communications service to transmit/ communicate bomb threats to disrupt the peace and good order of society.
It is for these reasons users of cell phones, laptops and notebooks or any electronic communications device must first of all be aware that their cell phone, laptop or notebook might be their personal and private property but the data stored therein is not.
In the circumstances, it is critical that users of personal electronic devices must manage the privacy of their texts and conversations, they must be cautious when agreeing to privacy policies pop ups and should not unwittingly consent to systems suspected of collecting their personal data.
The three sides of the modern Ecommunications coin can be very tricky and a lack of understanding and awareness of how exposed a user can be could result in effective tracking by law enforcement or hacker much to the detriment of the unsuspecting user.
A danger that is growing exponentially in Guyana is fake news and photo shopping being peddled via the Internet on cell phones and laptops. With elections around the corner, the situation can get worse in the heat of the campaigns by political parties and their followers. This will pose a major challenge to law enforcement during elections season.
More education and enlightenment about of the dangers inherent in the use of electronic communications devices is urgently needed in Guyana especially since thousands of adults, teenagers and even school children now own and use a cellular phone in their day to day lives.

Clement J. Rohee

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