CAIRO: The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) condemned Saturday the Egyptian government’s move to gather the personal information of users at internet cafes as an infringement on privacy.
“The Egyptian government imposed new measures to increase censorship on internet users in violation of their privacy rights. This privacy abuse and censoring procedure has become a widespread reality, ANHRI said in a statement released on Aug. 9.
ANHRI was referring to the new registration process that started two months ago. Each visitor of a coffee shop with a wireless internet connection is given a scratch card to get access and is then required to fill out a form detailing their name, email address and mobile number. The system then sends a text message with a pin code for access.
“It is an ironic and irritating issue. Now all are [subject to the same rules]; the poor internet users who must provide their names, ID numbers and the IP address of the computers they use in public internet cafes; and the rich who use their own PCs and laptops in luxurious coffee shops, as well as tourists. All are censored, said Gamal Eid, executive director of ANHRI, in the statement.
“This is part of the government’s attempt to control the internet in Egypt, political blogger Wael Abbas told Daily News Egypt.
There is no logical explanation for demanding the user’s mobile number, which is registered under their name, for verification. This is a violation of privacy and a way to monitor the internet, he added.
The statement also condemned internet service companies for cooperating with the government in this “severely abusive procedure which imposes constraints and censorship on the internet users.
Abbas explained that the government can already monitor those who access the internet from their homes as they are subscribers with an internet provider as well as at internet cafes, where the less privileged users have to give café owners their ID numbers to use the service.
“Coffee shops offering wireless internet connections to upper and middle class users were the only ones left unmonitored, so they’ve created this process whereby you have to register with all your personal information, he said.
Coffee shops known for providing wireless internet service, such as Cilantro, Starbucks, Costa Coffee and Beano’s have become popular hangouts for youth, many of whom are activist bloggers or use Facebook.
ANHRI specifically pointed to Link Telecommunications Company which provides the service to the majority of these coffee shops.
A Link.net source who spoke to Daily News Egypt on condition of anonymity confirmed the authorities’ involvement in pushing forth this new system, but only to protect internet users.
“This is a business plan we implemented to make sure that only guests at these cafés are the ones using the wireless internet service, the source told Daily News Egypt. “The aim of this system is to protect the user’s privacy; with this information, which can’t be forged, we can track down any user and help security bodies find them.
When asked to specify what kind of internet users are sought by security bodies, the sources said “hackers and those who steal credit cards and use them online.
On the other hand, an Egyptian security official told AFP, also on condition of anonymity, that the measure is not an official one although he acknowledged that some cyber cafés have been instructed to obtain such data from their clients.
Political analysts are furious at these new measures. It s illogical to monitor the web, because we are living in the internet era and if they do that then they will be following old policies that can never be applicable in today s world, said Hassan Abou Taleb an analyst at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.
Regular coffee shop visitors were also enraged by the new procedure. “This is a service which we now pay for but that doesn’t give them the right to know all our personal information. I’m just going there for coffee and to browse the internet, said Ahmed Arini, 20, who regularly goes to coffee shops with friends to have a snack while finishing school assignments online.
The statement ended with ANHRI urging everyone to call on the government to end this violation of their privacy. “All those concerned about freedom of expression and privacy protection should confront and counter this issue every possible legal way. They must also expose it and punish all the companies that work with security or comply with these illegitimate practices to violate citizens’ rights in Egypt, it said.
On April 6 this year, security forces detained a number of internet users for allegedly masterminding the call for a general strike through a Facebook group calling on “Egyptians to protest hikes in food prices.
Among the detainees was Israa Abdel Fattah whose detention had created a media frenzy and charged public opinion against the government.
