Sunday, August 30, 2009

Cyber Crimes in Pakistan: An Invasion of Privacy?



While a great deal has been published about Cyber Crimes Act in Pakistan, the premise of the law seems to be faulty. If you compare the local Cyber Crimes to that in effect in other countries, the language seems to be more vague, giving law enforcement even more risky authority than is advisable.

While the Cyber Crimes laws were devised and put into effect at the time of Daniel Pearl’s kidnapping, the language since then, has turned into encapsulating most activity online, and categorizing it as illegal.
While there is no question about the critical importance of the law itself, the unquestionable authority it gives to trigger-happy untrained law enforcement agents or judiciary who may not understand how IPs are spoofed or firewalls are circumvented, puts the average user, at risk.

Privacy is an ethical, legal and birth right of every individual on the planet. Who decides when it is okay to log your SMS or telephone conversations, is something that has been up for heated debate in all corners of civil society.

The integrity of your business is at stake if clients who use your services, can be exposed to unauthorized third parties perusing their personal information. That is a business risk. Laws are meant to facilitate and enable trade, not destroy it.

As more and more of our lives get integrated into the Cloud, it is more realistic that our every move is being tracked in real time. But practicing a few safeguards and measures will help to keep you and your information, well, safe. Privacy is your right. Know it. Fight for it.

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