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Momodou
Denmark
11629 Posts |
 Posted - 17 Dec 2009 : 11:24:43
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Foroyaa Editorial : Could Emails and Mobiles Be A Threat To Public Servants and Security Personnel?
The new information technology which has revolutionised communication is both an asset and a threat. It developed during the cold war and has now developed into civilian use. Emails and Mobile Phones have given rise to speedy Communication. It is also bringing people into contact that under normal circumstances may not be able to meet or communicate.
In the Gambia there have been many cases which have led to arrests, detention and prosecution which have links to Communication through Emails and Mobile phones. Those who are close the Government are more vulnerable since their loyalty is constantly being monitored.
The first Email Fiasco could be traced back to the arrest of Journalists linked to many Media houses for allegedly serving as correspondents to the Freedom Newspaper. The former member for Wuli East,Madam Duta Kamaso was also detained during that period and later released and dismissed from the ruling Party. This was followed by declaring her National Assembly seat vacant. It is still a mystery why she was detained for months as a National Assembly member. Some claimed that it was due to what was found in her email correspondence. However, no conclusion could be drawn regarding the cause of arrest. No charges were proffered and no court case was pursued.
The case which brought the issue of Email to the fore as source of evidence for the prosecution is that of the six journalists. Print outs of Email correspondence were presented as evidence and their admissibility was granted by the court.
Some jurists and social scientists need to do special study on the social and legal implications of the new information Technology. Marriages are breaking down because of it and convictions are taking place as a result of it. It is not uncommon for husbands, wives, boy friends, girl friends, Co-workers, investigators and others to snoop into e mails and phone messages to try to gather more information about a person. Many people use the information technology but do not fully understand all its implications. Some are even becoming more insecure in their correspondence because of perceived threats. Hence they are beginning to see information technology as a menace instead of an asset. Take this case which gave all of us a hearty laughter: “An elderly woman in her eighties was discussing with a grand child. A man came in who started to talk about the arrest of Lang Tombong Tamba.The grandmother pretentiously indicated no such arrest had taken place. The man who is reported to be a staunch supporter of the ruling party asked the old woman whether he is in the country. The old woman retorted that people should stop spreading rumour.The man turned the conversation into familiar greetings and left. The grandchild expressed surprise that the old woman was denying knowledge of what they were just talking about before their visitor arrived. The old woman is said to have retorted “These very people who carry all these information around as if they care about people are the same who carry recorders in their pockets to record what people say. They can fool every body else but not me.” This is the climate of distrust which emails and mobile phones are engendering.
In our view what is to be feared is not information technology but the use to which it is put. It is a question of input and output. What you put in, is what comes out. What needs to be feared is a society which negates freedom of expression.
Source: Foroyaa Online
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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toubab1020
12306 Posts |
Posted - 17 Dec 2009 : 11:56:39
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I am sorry to say that the world is not a golden place,ALL governments have methods which allow then to "snoop" on communications, e mails, mobile phones,phones,the lot,some governments are happy to just have this information and to only use it when it is necessary for them to achieve something, some governments want to maintain a very tight hold on their peoples and use the "snooped" information as soon as they can.
Survaillence is very evident here in the UK,CCTV cameras everywhere,even on busses and trains,a great saving on police manpower as the evidence of commited crime is available after the crime has been commited,prevention of crime is perhaps a thing of the past much use being made now of Social engineering, and heaven knows what else is available to "the powers that be".
A fact of life now. |
"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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Momodou
Denmark
11629 Posts |
Posted - 17 Dec 2009 : 13:17:42
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There is something called spoofing and inocent people can be easily be convicted in a society like ours because their e-mails/caller ID has been spoofed.
Here are brief examples of what spoofing is:
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caller_ID_spoofing
Caller ID spoofing is the practice of causing the telephone network to display a number on the recipient's caller ID display which is not that of the actual originating station; the term is commonly used to describe situations in which the motivation is considered malicious by the speaker. Just as e-mail spoofing can make it appear that a message came from any e-mail address the sender chooses, caller ID spoofing can make a call appear to have come from any phone number the caller wishes. Because of the high trust people have tend to have in the caller ID system, spoofing can call the system's value into question.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mail_spoofing
E-mail spoofing is a term used to describe (usually fraudulent) e-mail activity in which the sender address and other parts of the e-mail header are altered to appear as though the e-mail originated from a different source. E-mail spoofing is a technique commonly used for spam e-mail and phishing to hide the origin of an e-mail message. By changing certain properties of the e-mail, such as the From, Return-Path and Reply-To fields (which can be found in the message header), ill-intentioned users can make the e-mail appear to be from someone other than the actual sender. The result is that, although the e-mail appears to come from the address indicated in the From field (found in the e-mail headers), it actually comes from another source.
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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toubab1020
12306 Posts |
Posted - 17 Dec 2009 : 14:31:31
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| Good Point, but I would suggest that if a government really wanted to use communication information to gain a certain outcome then they would take other technical steps which only those within the shadowy world of intellegence gathering would know about,there are unique numbers which relate to only one terminal where the message was transmitted from dispite the public heading of the communication, I cannot go into details because I am not that technical,rest assured though that there are brilliant technicians out there who would amaze you with what they can do. |
"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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