Ministry of Interior and Municipalities Nohad Machnouk denied yesterday claims that the government has started implementing a new cyber crimes law that will entitle the authorities to:
– Monitor calls & register them
– Monitor Facebook, Whatsapp & Twitter and all social media tools
– Monitor your device as it is linked to your civil register & fingerprint
I have no idea who started these rumors but they have no idea what they are talking about. It’s well know that the government is monitor our calls and messages (text messages) but it’s almost impossible for them to hack into our Whatsapp accounts and everything they see on Facebook & Twitter is what you allow them to see.
In terms of WhatsApp, they’ve introduced full end-to-end encryption almost a year ago, which means no one can see inside that message you’re sending, and governments will find it far more difficult to tap into private conversations.
As for Facebook, the government can only see your public posts or those you’ve made visible to your friends and friends of friends (in case they create fake profiles). Just in case the government tries to hack into your account, Facebook will warn you and will offer you the option to turn on “Login Approvals” to block users on other devices from accessing your account.
Similarly, Google, Apple & Twitter have all taken measures to ensure their users are protected from government agencies.
Having said that, the only thing the government can do nowadays is monitor your social media accounts by paying companies or using special tools to scan through your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, websites and blogs looking for keywords and following conversations that are already made available to the public.
If you’d rather not have the government, or anyone else for that matter, monitor your feeds, then you should change your privacy settings or stick to the likes of Whatsapp or maybe Telegram.
