Naharnet

Sehnaoui Meets Berri: Whoever Acquires Telecom Data Can Spy on Everyone in Lebanon

Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui noted on Thursday that the Lebanese people have “no idea of the large amount of information” that is stored in the telecom data.

He said after holding talks with Speaker Nabih Berri: “Whoever acquires the data can spy on everyone in Lebanon.”

The information is an invasion of the people’s privacy and the country’s security, he added.

Furthermore, whoever acquires the data can allow other sides to spy on the Lebanese people’s telephone lines and “therein lies the danger of the matter,” warned the minister.

The debate over the telecom data has been brought up again by the March 14 forces in light of the failed assassination attempt against Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on April 4.

They held Sehnaoui and those who support him responsible for preventing the security forces and authorities from obtaining the telecom data in their probe into assassination attempts.

The minister said that this issue is in the hands of a judicial commission that was formed by the government in February, which receives the records of some 3.4 million subscribers and decides whether to hand them over to the security agencies or not.

Sehnaoui said that all accusations against him in this dispute are aimed at misleading the public.

“Linking this issue with assassinations is aimed at misleading the people, but they all know that we are keen on the country’s security more than the other camp,” he remarked.


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