Colin Wilson

The Editor Speaks: Spying

Two media houses, Cayman News Service (CNS) and the Caymanian Compass on Wednesday (23) shockingly exposed a leaked memo that was sent by the Information and Communications Technology Authority’s director to local telecommunications firms. It reveals government authorities are planning to widen their spying net and wire taps to include all kinds of electronic information.

Revised regulations are being planned that will allow the authorities to not only tap phones but wider communication networks as well.

All this is to assist the police in their legal investigations and the authorities can collect masses of information with their newly purchased spying equipment that has cost close to $1M!

However, there is neither oversight to this nor any data protection law. Every one of us can be spied upon through our emails, Internet and telephones.

Even under the present law where spying by the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service must be authorised by the Governor, who signs a warrant for the police commissioner, who then delegates and authorizes whomsoever he chooses in the RCIPS to do the spying there is no oversight or limit.

Although an audit committee is supposed to have been created to examine all interception warrants issued by the Governor, the committee has never been set up!!

Big brother is certainly watching over us, but of course, if we are law abiding citizens we have nothing to fear. The problem is none of us know what laws we are breaking, as there are now so many.

If we are on the Internet and Google decides for us we should receive pornography, even if we immediately delete it, there is potentially a record of it and we can be prosecuted.

We have absolutely no rights because someone can arbitrate against us without any one watching over them.

It is a wonder no one is now going to try and find out who leaked the memo to CNS and the Compass.

We might discover soon enough if he or she seeks asylum in Russia.

However, none of this is new. During the nefarious Operation Tempura investigations, Martin Bridger and his team were alleged to have executed a number of telephone investigations. My source tells me they accessed call records and voicemail and went through the Cayman Net News (CNN) email files. They apparently found nothing at CNN and so their investigation turned to other persons from what they gleaned from their other telecommunication spying.

We all know just how much that snooping cost the Cayman Islands. And we are going to do it all over again.

And just how much of that Tempura spying had actually anything to do with the investigation? If all the records were revealed, it might make us so outraged at just how much was not remotely connected with Tempura, it would put a stop or at the very least put some legal oversight on what is contemplated now.

Watch this space. Someone is probably doing just that now.

Note: See attachment to see leaked memo. The date of the meeting has been postponed until next week.