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20100502

Censorship and interference by ANC regime of internet systems in SA

 

South Africa’s surveillance, interception and monitoring of the internet and electronic communications: the laws:
24 February 2000 Author: Tracy Cohen

In 1998, the South African Law Commission (SALC) began a project to review the existing law on the monitoring and interception of communication and make a number of recommendations for its reform. (Discussion Paper 78, Project 105, November 1998)

What follows is an outline of the existing 1992 Act and a summary of the SALC's proposals for a Bill to reform the existing law. The implications for ISPs are highlighted.

Who does the monitoring and intercepting – and who pays for it?

“Duplicate signals of conversations and communications authorized to be monitored in terms of the Act, shall be routed by the telecommunication service provider to the relevant central monitoring centre, to be designated by, respectively, the National Commissioner of SAPS, the Chief of the SANDF, and the Directors-General of the NIA and Secret Service. This may have cost implications for Internet Service Providers…’

Privacy

Concerns were expressed about “the glaring constitutional privacy concerns inherent in surveillance, monitoring and interception of communications.’ However the authorities claim that ‘ given the current crime rates in the country and the criminal uses to which certain telecommunications equipment is being put to, a law of this nature will likely withstand constitutional scrutiny…’ Read entire article:  http://old.ispa.org.za/regcom/advisories/advisory2.shtml