Anger at big brother cops

POLICE bullied employees of three telecommunications companies to hand over personal conversation details, the House Legal Affairs Committee was told yesterday.

The accusations were made during discussions on a bill to alter personal data laws.

Representatives from telecom companies CyTA, MTN and OTENET said police had threatened their employees with arrest if they refused to offer information on specific persons’ telephone conversations.
Police spokesman, Officer Andreas Krokos, explained the police had acted under the instruction of the Attorney-general.

Shocked committee members requested an immediate investigation into the claims and told the companies to file a complaint to the Independent Authority for the Investigation of Complaints and Claims against the Police.

The personal data bill, which is part of a European Directive, will force telecoms companies to maintain telecommunication data and internet visits, but not their contents, for a period of six months, in case it is needed to assist police investigations into serious crimes.

Committee Chairman Ionas Nicolaou of DISY called for a complete investigation into the claims, saying such behaviour could not be allowed to continue.

“We must control the actions of people trying to turn technology against the rights of the citizen,” he said.

AKEL deputy Aristophanis Georgiou said the accusations confirmed his party’s fears over legalising police access to personal data and how this would be a serious violation of the public’s human rights.
Police had pressed for access to personal data, he said, at a time when it was still illegal to do so or use it in court.

“Imagine what will happen when this is passed into legislation,” Georgiou said.

The situation called for a disciplinary or even criminal investigation, he concluded.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.