Pakistan to deploy nation-wide internet monitoring system: report

KARACHI: Pakistan has moved to create a nation-wide internet monitoring system by hiring the services of a company based in Canada, according to a report published by New York-based publication Coda Story.

The firm, named Sandvine, will likely provide equipment for monitoring and analysing all incoming and outgoing internet traffic in the country. Other nations, like China, already use such monitoring systems. 

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A report published in The News earlier in May had claimed that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had directed the telecom industry to deploy a “suitable solution” for monitoring the web. 

The surveillance would analyse and curb “grey traffic” — which inclu­des Voice over Internet Protocol and Virtual Private Networks. Coda Story claims that it viewed a Pakistan government tender for the system last year. 

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The tender invited bids for system “at national level, for identifying and blocking access to any on-line content classified as unlawful under Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016”.

The contract is reportedly worth $18.5 million, according to the New York-based publication. Under the contract, the system would monitor communications, including call data, on behalf of the government.