Snooping plan raises fear of privacy breach

The government’s announcement that it will monitor private conversations in messaging apps, such as WhatsApp and Blackberry Messenger, in an effort to crack down on fake news has raised concerns about the invasion of privacy.
Avid users of WhatsApp said a democratic government should not go as far as eavesdropping on the private conversations of its citizens.
“I don’t feel comfortable because this concerns my privacy. This is not China; we are a democratic country. I can’t imagine living like that in Indonesia, where there are limits to my conversations and I could get caught for doing trivial things. I’d rather move to another country,” 28-year-old Adela Pranindiati told The Jakarta Post.
Adela said while she was concerned with the proliferation of fake news in private messaging apps, governmentsponsored monitoring of private conversations was unjustifiable.
Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara said on Thursday that his ministry planned to monitor conversations on messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Blackberry Messenger, as he alleged that many hate-fueled, false and provocative messages were widely circulating through the platforms.
Fake news pieces claiming that millions of Chinese workers had arrived in Indonesia and taken jobs from locals have been making the rounds in recent weeks and raised concerns about the rise of anti-China sentiment in society.
“Online chatting is part of social media. We will have a different approach (to monitor it),” Rudiantara said on Thursday after a limited Cabinet meeting convened by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to specifically discuss the epidemic of fake news.
The ministry’s spokesman, Noor Iza, said Friday that the government had the ability to trace the initial sources of provocative messages through digital forensic work to uncover electronic data with the help of companies providing the instant messaging services.
“Law enforcement agencies could get access (to the data record) provided by the app companies,” he told the Post.
Noor said the ministry would not conduct mass surveillance, where people would be subjected to indiscriminate monitoring, which could result in an interference with people’s right to privacy, and would only target material that violated the law.
“We won’t monitor (private conversations 24 hours) because those are private, but if there are reports (of hate-fueled and false messages), we can trace their origin,” he said.
Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network regional coordinator Damar Juniarto said it would not be easy to monitor private conversations in WhatsApp, which was built with end-to-end encryption technology.
“Therefore, it won’t be easy to tap (into people’s private conversations in WhatsApp),” he told the Post.
The technology means that messages cannot be intercepted as they travel between devices, ensuring that only a message sender and recipient can read the messages.
Presidential chief of staff Teten Masduki said the government was also considering tightening social media regulations, including the imposition of fines for social media platforms that carry fake news.
“It is important to maintain the quality of our democracy,” Teten said.