Government Must Take Effective Steps to Prevent Information Leaks

The constant development of new technologies has made daily activities and communication easier, but at the same time, personal privacy is increasingly disappearing. The activities of ministers, MPs and other people holding important positions in the state are also no longer remaining private. Their personal information, as well as information related to their official responsibilities, is being leaked. Such information can now be obtained within moments.

Cybercriminals are even opening websites and providing information about ordinary citizens, ministers, MPs and other important state officials in exchange for money through registration. A detailed investigative report published by Prothom Alo on Thursday, September 10, revealed the alarming and disturbing picture of these data leaks.

According to the report, information about whom a person talks to on a mobile phone, what messages they send and where they travel can be obtained simply by paying money. Such information has been sold through websites for a long time. On September 6, the mobile phone number of a minister was sent to those involved in selling such information, with a request to provide his data. The amount demanded by them was also paid. Within a few hours, the minister’s Call Detail Record (CDR) was obtained.

The CDR showed various confidential details, including whom the minister had spoken to over three months, how long he had spoken to them, when the calls were made and where he was located while speaking. After being shown the CDR to verify whether it was genuine, the minister took out his own mobile phone and checked the information. He was shocked and said, “How is this possible! Then no one is safe.”

The minister was not the only one. The CDRs of the mobile phone numbers of two heads of two important organisations in the information technology and telecommunications sector were also collected and checked. Their records were found to be accurate as well. The report said the personal information of important state officials is not safe. Even the confidential information of those responsible for keeping people safe is being leaked.

An online market has emerged around the buying and selling of confidential mobile phone information. Such information is being sold through advertisements on Facebook, websites, Telegram and WhatsApp. By paying money, buyers can obtain a person’s National Identity Card information, CDR, mobile phone location, SMS records, TIN certificate, passport information and financial details of mobile transactions.

A buyer has to pay Tk 1,050 for a person’s three-month CDR, while a six-month CDR costs Tk 1,200. Those who operate these websites create WhatsApp groups with customers and communicate with them through the groups. This is a deeply alarming situation. The leakage of personal information of everyone from important state officials to ordinary citizens has made their lives unsafe.

The leakage of personal information and call records from mobile phones is not a new phenomenon. It has been happening for a long time. We have repeatedly called on previous governments as well as the current government to take effective measures to ensure that people’s personal information is not leaked in any way.

, no significant effective steps have been seen from the government in this regard. The matter has remained limited to promises and statements about what will be done. As a result, data leaks have now become almost a routine matter.

Ministers, MPs and other important state officials are also not being spared. In the age of artificial intelligence, data leaks have taken a more alarming turn. Developed countries are also expressing concern over the issue and discussing ways to address it. At the same time, major powers are increasingly using AI in military strategies to target opponents and collect information. A report published by China’s influential daily South China Morning Post on September 6 said China had warned that it would not allow the United States to pursue its ambition of establishing global dominance through AI.

The Vice President of the Center for China and Globalization said the United States was moving forward with the aim of establishing global dominance through the misuse of AI. This shows that while technological advancement has made human life easier, its misuse has also reached alarming levels. There is no denying that fire is useful, but if people do not know how to control it, it can burn and destroy everything. New technologies have now become like fire. Without proper safeguards, they could put human civilisation itself at risk.

We see personal information, photographs, videos, call records and other private data being leaked online, including through social media. Using technology, malicious groups leak such information, causing everything from damage to a person’s reputation to severe mental distress. In some cases, it can even put a person’s life at risk.

Fake photo cards and videos are also being spread through AI and other technologies to defame heads of government, ministers, MPs, politicians and other important figures in society and the state. On the other hand, the same technologies are also being used to highlight their positive activities.

However, the tendency to disclose personal and confidential information has now reached epidemic proportions. This trend is extremely dangerous. As almost everything has become digital and technology-based, ordinary people are required to provide personal information to government and private institutions for various essential services. From mobile SIM registration, passports and bank accounts to land registration, it has become necessary to provide personal and family information, fingerprints, retinal scans and facial data for various purposes.

Information related to both public and private activities, including sensitive and confidential matters, is also collected digitally. Highly confidential documents and reports related to important government decisions are also stored digitally. Yet these highly confidential data and reports are also failing to remain secure. Cybercriminals are disclosing them for money or personal interests. This is putting national security at risk.

A recent report by Daily Inqilab highlighted concerns that the involvement of a neighbouring country in a submarine cable could allow important state information to be transferred through it. Due to inadequate technological security, confidential state information is either reaching foreign countries or creating a risk that it may do so.
Where a country’s cybersecurity system is not strong, the leakage of confidential personal information from mobile phones, computers and other devices—including information belonging to ministers, MPs, important state officials and ordinary citizens—becomes almost inevitable.

Regarding the leakage of confidential mobile phone information, Post, Telecommunications and Information Technology Minister Fakir Mahbub Anam said that the collection and sale of citizens’ personal information and allowing such leaks to continue cannot be permitted. He said the government is working with the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and law enforcement agencies to quickly identify the network involved and bring those responsible under the law.

Observers say the government cannot simply make statements. The relevant authorities must take the issue seriously and launch effective initiatives. They must work continuously to ensure people’s cybersecurity. The state is like a vault for storing people’s information. The key to this vault should remain only with the state so that no one else can open it.

The personal information provided by citizens to the state is a trust placed in its hands. It is the state’s responsibility to protect this trust.
We are seeing a lack of seriousness and negligence on the part of the state in this regard, which is not desirable at all. The state cannot afford to remain helpless in the face of technology.

The state must remain many steps ahead of those who leak information. It must not only make citizens aware of the proper use of technology, but also take all necessary measures to protect data and take strict action against those responsible for leaking it.