DATA BREACH: Subscribers of Vodafone, AirtelTigo, Glo at risk? Disclosures needed from the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications.
Given the huge public interest generated by the enactment of E.I. 63 and the issues of breach of privacy of telecommunication service subscribers arising therein, the Centre for Socioeconomic Studies (CSS) has been following with serious attention an interlocutory application brought against two Telcos (MTN Ghana and Vodafone Ghana Ltd.), KelniGvG and other assigns of the Government of Ghana.
However, contrary to claims by government and its assigns that no such act is being considered nor perpetuated, it is now public knowledge that Government through KelniGVG has requested the telecommunication companies to provide it with customers information.
These denials even under oath by agents of Government; KelniGVG notwithstanding, credible information available to CSS show that KeliniGVG under the instructions of government has indeed carried out such directive contrary to the public denials and in open court.
Article 18(2) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana provides that “no person shall be subjected to interference with the privacy of his home, property, CORRESPONDENCE or COMMUNICATION except in accordance with the law and as may be NECESSARY in a free and democratic society for public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the protection of health or morals, for the prevention of disorder or crime or for the protection of the rights or freedoms of others”.
The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, the umbrella body of all the Telcos in Ghana, espouses ethical corporate citizenship, good governance, and transparency as its core values. However, issues contained in the affidavit of MTN Ghana (2nd Respondent) in response to the application for interlocutory injunction have left the CSS with grave concerns and questions begging answers from the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications:
- The CSS seeks from the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications a disclosure on whether the Government of Ghana, through KelniGVG Ltd., did request from Vodafone, AirtelTigo, Glo, and Internet Data Service Providers information on their customers in an un-hashed format such as full disclosure of mobile money transactions of subscribers, dump of merchant codes and cell reference data. This request, which breaches the NCA’s guidelines on data requirements for implementation of E.I. 63, was made to MTN Ghana via an email from KelniGVG (nyarko@kelnigvg.com) as revealed by MTN Ghana in its affidavit available at the High Court, General Jurisdiction, Accra.
- The CSS understands that though MTN Ghana has declined the request due to potential data breach, it is unknown to the subscribers of Vodafone, AirtelTigo, Glo and other Internet Data Service Providers whether same request has been made on them, and if same has been complied with in breach of the privacy of their customers.
- What measures, as a matter of courtesy and ethical corporate responsibility has the Chamber and its member instituted to ensure the informationof its customers is safe, and in line with modern constitutional and democratic values.
In the public interest, the Centre for Socioeconomic Studies seek these disclosures from the above mentioned Telcos to allay the fears of their subscriber base and promote transparency and ethical corporate citizenship as espoused as core values of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications.
As Citizens of Ghana we are concerned as our priceless collective individual freedoms are being pecked at capriciously, the ultimate price is unimaginable. Therefore,we call on the country’s Justice system as the custodian of the conscience of society, to use its mandate to guard the rights of the citizenry, and uphold the sanctity of the constitution in this regard.
The End
Centre for Socioeconomic Studies
