Surveillance bill to be voted next week

A GOVERNMENT bill allowing court-ordered lifting of communications privacy is set to head to the plenum on Thursday, House legal committee chairman Sotiris Sampson said, with AKEL submitting a list of amendments.

They include the person whose communication is being monitored should be informed and the practise could only last for a set period of time – initially 30 days, that could be renewed twice, bringing a total of 90 days of surveillance, AKEL’s MP Aristos Damianou said.

Additionally, the individual issuing the order and responsible for monitoring the data – which includes emails, SMS texts, and online chats – should be named so they can be liable if the bill is not properly implemented.

Damianou said their amendments were to ensure the safety of people’s right to privacy, while Sampson said DISY would be voting the bill as-is and would evaluate the opposition’s proposals.

The bill allows for snooping on communications, following a court order, for cases relating to drug trafficking, human trafficking, corruption, homeland security and monetary stability.

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.