Vodafone reveals why it allows the State to eavesdrop on phone calls

Safaricom’s majority shareholder, British firm Vodafone, has admitted allowing governments in 29 countries, including Kenya to listen to telephone conversations on its network.

Vodafone owns 40 per cent shareholding in Safaricom - Kenya’s largest mobile operator with over 20 million subscribers.

In the Law Enforcement Disclosure report, Vodafone details how governments across the world are monitoring the telecommunication activities of their citizens as well as their whereabouts.

Where legally permissible, Vodafone has made public the number of warrants it has complied with to provide customer data or to intercept communication such as phone calls and text messages.

WIRETAPPING DEMANDS

The report details the legal instruments used by governments to request information from telecom operators and to listen to telephone conversations without the knowledge of subscribers.

In Africa the report covers Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo where the company has a presence. “The report encompasses all 29 operating businesses directly controlled by Vodafone (including our joint ventures in Australia, Kenya and Fiji), in which we have received a lawful demand from a law enforcement agency or government authority between April 1 2013 and March 31 2014,” said Vodafone.

In Kenya, the company claims that its subsidiary, Safaricom, has not received wiretapping demands from the government.

However, the company has revealed communication data such as the destination and duration of calls that its subscribers make.  The company has withheld the number of such claims it has received, citing legal restrictions.

With regulations such as the Official Secrets Act, the company says such information cannot be legally divulged, currently. Further, it has been unable to engage with the government on the matter of disclosure.

But in a statement, Safaricom said that while any agency may seek information, it can only provide subscriber identity information and records of communication as it does not have technology to intercept calls or SMS.

“Government agencies are not able to access the content of conversations and messages as Safaricom does not have any equipment capable of intercepting communication and is prohibited from doing so, by law which provides a general prohibition against disclosure of customer information,” said Safaricom corporate affairs director, Mr Nzioka Waita.

BLEW THE WHISTLE

Vodafone said that it has made the disclosures in order to inform an on-going public debate on privacy in the digital era.

An American, Edward Snowden, last year blew the whistle on widespread surveillance by the country’s National Security Agency. Facing consumer ire, Internet and telecom firms are now distancing themselves from the fallout with some of them campaigning for greater privacy on the Internet.

In Kenya, data protection on the Internet and telecom networks is a shaky affair. Although the constitution guarantees the privacy of one’s communications, this is arguably eroded in a number of other legislations among them Prevention of Terrorism Act and the National Intelligence Service Act.

PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS

Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) director general Francis Wangusi said there have been calls from other government agencies to gain access to consumer information from telecoms firms.

“The Ministry of Devolution, for instance, was looking for information which hinged on subscriber information but the law does not currently allow that. We are waiting for the Data Protection Bill. When this law is passed, we will provide a framework and come up with regulations that would enable such disclosures to be made,” said Mr Wangusi.

Consumer Federation of Kenya (Cofek) secretary general Stephen Mutoro says that his organisation has been receiving complaints from phone users whose communication was intercepted by private investigators.

“We understand that private investigators, and even criminals, are acquiring interceptors in Kenya. We know that spying on people’s communication in this country is the norm rather than the exception and that our information is open not only to government but also to criminals.”