Néstor Humberto Martínez, a former prosecutor, warned of the implications of an article from the Gustavo Petro government’s National Development Plan.. EL TIEMPO expressed what will happen with the WhatsApp application in his article.
(Read the full column: And now, Colombia without WhatsApp?).
In particular, Martínez analyzed Article 113, which states that the Communications Regulatory Commission (CRC) “can request any comprehensive and accurate information from video-on-demand information from providers of communications networks and services and those providing services over the Internet.” “User-generated video sharing and interpersonal, direct or interactive voice, video or online messaging exchange services provided through platforms.”
After consulting with experts, the former prosecutor assures that the CRC will have the ability to “require messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram or Signal to transmit confidential information” from its users.
So, Martínez says he can see “the content of text texts, video calls, and spoken messages.”
(Also: David Luna warns about a PND article that would violate digital privacy).
The article also states that those who do not provide information can be fined up to 250 times the current legal minimum wage “for each day they engage in this behavior”.
For Martínez the article is a “monster”. He believes that if approved by the Congress of the Republic, WhatsApp could leave Colombia and leave 40 million users without service.
In support, he cited the rejection of WhatsApp and Signal in the UK prior to similar laws: “Representatives warned that they would leave the UK if current law reform is passed, rather than ‘undermining people’s trust in us’ because it provides a truly private means of communication'”.
The Communications Regulatory Commission (CRC) has already decided on the clause in the National Development Plan that it can have extraordinary powers.
“The request for private and sensitive information from digital platform users was never considered,” they said in a press release.
(In context: ‘The National Development Plan has never considered requesting specific information’).
According to the CRC, they are trying to expand the scope of information in certain situations with the substance. For example, they may request “aggregated data about users or subscribers, revenue, plans, contract terms and traffic (how many calls are made, how many messages are sent and how many GBs are consumed through these services), among others”.
Moreover, They insisted that Colombians respect and enforce their right to privacy.embodied in the political Constitution.
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Source: Exame
