South Africa: Your Cellphone Records and the Law - the Legal Loophole That Lets State Spying Run Rampant

analysis

There are laws in place preventing intelligence services from intercepting communications unless a specially designated judge scrutinises each case. But, on estimate, 95% of court orders related to telecoms interception are never even seen by this judge, thanks to a "legal loophole" that may prove extremely hard to close.

Telecoms surveillance in South Africa is governed by Rica - the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act. The law clearly distinguishes between two categories of information that can be intercepted. The first is communications content - whatever is said in a phone conversation, and written in texts, emails or private social media messages.

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