In an appeal that is currently before the Supreme Court, Article 19 says that if Device Management Systems (DMS) are put in place, all Kenyans’ mobile phones could be monitored.
This comes as the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) now requests that the court dismiss petitions that seek to prevent it from implementing the Device Management Systems programme. This is the case despite worries that the DMS could provide the telecoms regulator with access to sensitive user information such as conversations, financial transactions, and messages.
Any technology that generates and gathers data on residents without seeking to limit the dataset to well-defined targeted individuals could result in mass surveillance of civilians, according to the human rights organization. In addition, the organization claims that this surveillance could lead to profiling.
“Surveillance opens Pandora’s box to a number of additional violations of human rights, such as profiling. In court documents, Article 19 states, “It is clearly evident that the DMS impairs the right to privacy in a way inconsistent with Article 24 of the Constitution.
LSK went to the Supreme Court after the Court of Appeal gave the Communications Authority of Kenya permission to install Device Management Systems as long as the public was included in the process.
by: Gedion David