Telecom companies must protect customers: HRW

Telecom companies must protect customers: HRW

By Bill O'Toole | Wednesday, 03 July 2013 from the Myanmar Times

Human Rights Watch has continued its campaign for new players in Myanmar’s telecoms industry to protect the privacy and freedoms of their customers, after the government announced that Telenor of Norway and Ooredoo from Qatar had been awarded two highly prized licences.

The government announced the two winners of the tender on June 27, almost six months after the process was launched. However, the telecommunications law that will govern how they operate – including what data they have to make available to the government – is yet to be approved by parliament.

Human Rights Watch responded to the tender announcement almost immediately, continuing its months-long campaign for greater transparency and protection of civil liberties in the sector.

“Burma lacks an electronic privacy law to prevent arbitrary and over broad surveillance practices, and the courts have no history of independence from the government,” the group said in a statement.

Read the full article here: http://mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/7339-telecom-companies-must-protect-customers-hrw.html