The Press and Law Foundation has described a move by the Dominican Telecommunications Institute (Indotel) that ‘obliges’ telecom companies to grant government investigative bodies unlimited access to telecommunications made by citizens without a court order as “incompatible with the Constitution”. Lawyer Namphi Rodriguez said that Indotel, on the grounds that it is authorized to do so by Law 53-07 on High Tech Crime, has issued a ruling for obtaining and retaining data and information from telecom providers that the foundation defines as a gross violation of the right to personal privacy. Carlos Amarante Baret, a member of the ruling PLD party’s political committee, is the new head of Indotel under the Medina administration.
Rodriguez mentions that Art. 44 of the Constitution on the Right to Privacy and Personal Dignity establishes that individuals shall be protected from any interference in their private life, their family life, their home and their correspondence. It establishes that everyone has the right of access to the information and data related to them, or to their property, kept in public or private records, and to be informed of the purpose and use of such information and data, as limited by law. The Constitution establishes that the confiscation, interception or search shall be authorized by an order issued only by a competent judicial authority, through legal channels in the course of the proceedings of a case in court, and any private information unrelated to the case shall not be disclosed.
As reported by acento.com.do, Rodriguez said that the ruling is only compatible with a police state, where there are no limits on intelligence and police powers.
He said this would be a violation of the freedom of expression, human dignity and due process of law, all covered by the 2010 Constitution.
He urged Indotel to revoke the ruling in a week’s time, or the Foundation would take the case to the Constitutional Court demanding its annulment.
The ruling was issued on 18 September 2011 by the board of directors of Indotel.
Indotel said that the ruling establishes that the data would only be provided to investigative bodies when they have requested it in the framework of a judicial investigation. The telecommunications institute also claimed that the foundation had misinterpreted the ruling.
In an editorial today, Diario Libre also urges Indotel revoke the ruling.
www.diariolibre.com/opinion/2013/04/12/i378894_deroguen-eso.html
www.acento.com.do/index.php/news/67979/56/Fundacion-emplaza-al-INDOTEL-a-derogar-reglamento-que-considera-inconstitucional.html