GT&T clears air on alleged involvement in leaked communications

GT&T wishes to take this opportunity to clear the air on any perception that this company may somehow be involved in the unlawful disclosure of the content of customers’ voice conversations, short messages (SMS) and/or electronic mails to law enforcement authorities or other third parties.

We can say without fear of contradiction that any such perception would have no basis in fact. Our customers can rest assured that their personally identifiable information and the contents of their communications are treated as strictly confidential, as is required under sections 35 and 53 of the Telecommunications Act, the Interception of Communications Act of 2008, section 5.11 of the ATN/GOG Purchase Agreement and sections 40 and 41 of the GT&T License.

The public is also invited to read GT&T’s Privacy Statement which appears on our website.
Having said this, in the interest of full disclosure, it must also be said that while the law prohibits the interception of communications in the course of transmission and its disclosure, like any other public telecommunications provider, GT&T has an obligation to assist law enforcement.

However, the law provides adequate checks-and-balances to guard against abuse. Such lawful interception can only be authorised (under section 4 of the Interception of Communications Act) by a Judge who is satisfied that such action is necessary in the interest of national security or for the prevention or detection of certain categories of offences.

An interception warrant must, among other things, specify the persons whose communications is to be intercepted, the identity of the agency authorized to intercept the communications, the persons to whom the intercepted communications may be disclosed, and the arrangements to be made to ensure the confidentiality of the intercepted communications.

This is all public information and the public is encouraged to read the Interception of Communications Act of 2008. Although the Act was assented to, to date GT&T has not been asked to acquire equipment which facilitates the interception of IP traffic including electronic mail. For the avoidance of doubt, we say here for the records that GT&T does not have the capability to intercept electronic mails.

GT&T takes very seriously its obligation to treat its customers’ personal identifiable information and the content of their communications as confidential. However, our customers too must share responsibility for the security of their information. GT&T provides Internet access but individual network owners are responsible for their own security. Organisations such as Governmental Agencies and Private Businesses especially need to recognise that most breaches in the security of their private networks originate from within, e.g employee misuse of access privileges, and general lax IT security policies.
Readers with an interest in network security and those keen to understand how easy it can be for their information to become accessible by unauthorized individuals may wish to follow the two links below. http://www.kaseya.com/resources/white-papers/the-top-seven-causes-of-major-security-breaches http://www.net-security.org/article.php?id=959)

GT&T MANAGEMENT

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp
All our printed editions are available online
emblem3
Subscribe to the Guyana Chronicle.
Sign up to receive news and updates.
We respect your privacy.