Meanwhile, in Lebanon, they’re having their own dispute over government access to non-content information:
The debate over granting security forces the telecom data is expected to deepen during the upcoming days as Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui rejects the demands while Prime Minister Najib Miqati insists that the work of those agencies shouldn’t be disrupted.
“Ministers have to implement decisions before objecting, we can’t obstruct the work of the security agencies,” Miqati said in comments published in An Nahar newspaper.
The premier referred to Sehanoui on Monday a decision to hand over to security agencies the necessary telecom data according to article 140 of the wiretapping law, which specifies the protection of communication data.
Sehanoui had rejected the request made by Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi and Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji, arguing that the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority didn’t approve it.
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