5/23/22, 12:53 PM Junta steps up phone, internet surveillance – with help from MPT and Mytel | Frontier Myanmar conversations are given to the authorities … but it’s no longer safe to speak on the phone,” the official said. For now, both the police officer and the MPT official recommended people use the foreign-owned operators for safety reasons. “The regime is likely treating these companies differently because they are foreign and have invested a lot of money – they will be more cautious in how they handle them,” the MPT official said. Mytel did not respond to a request for comment, while a Ministry of Transport and Communications spokesperson said they had no information on the monitoring programme. MPT office in Yangon. (Frontier) ‘They can track what you’re looking at’ The authorities have less capacity to monitor internet use than phone calls, the police officer and MPT official said. “We can only monitor which IP addresses are surfing which websites … there is no more detail than that because we don’t have the technology,” the MPT official said. In mid-March, the regime shut down mobile data entirely, before allowing users to access a limited internet service of around 1,000 whitelisted websites and applications. “One of the things they are looking for with mobile data surveillance is which sites have slipped through the cracks on whitelisting,” the MPT official said. It’s a different picture for fibre internet, the MPT official said. Although most of the internet is accessible – with only some websites and services being blacklisted – the service is fixed to a location and users have to give a significant amount of personal information when they apply for a connection. He said this meant it was important to always use a VPN to ensure your internet activity is not being tracked. “Unless you’re using mobile banking or something like that, you need to use a VPN. If you don’t use a VPN, they can track what you’re looking at,” the MPT source said. “Sometimes the authorities ask us for information about people who are using the [fibre-to-the-home] service. In the past, after we’ve given this data, I’ve heard that the person has been arrested.” The cybersecurity team is also monitoring internet use, the police officer said. Its social media monitoring focuses primarily on Facebook, particularly private and public groups, and was responsible for compiling the lists of users facing charges under section 505-A of the Penal Code that were announced in state newspapers each day in March and April. “I can’t say how we monitor Facebook groups – I can only say that people should not discuss anything sensitive in these groups,” he said. The NLD’s uncomfortable legacy Although the systematic monitoring of calls and internet was initiated by the Ministry of Transport and Communications when it was formally under NLD control, the ministry was and continues to be https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/junta-steps-up-phone-internet-surveillance-with-help-from-mpt-and-mytel/ 3/7