In Myanmar, Pro-democracy activists’ phone records connect them as suspects on a cork board. As many of those activists fled military crackdown and took refuge in the wake of the February 2021 coup, they believe that traces of the phone calls, which outline their ties to the operatives, have been found. Family members and co-workers are safe on networks outside the military’s control. Now, they claim that the data is in jeopardy.
Like all telecommunications companies, Myanmar’s four major operators keep records of call metadata – information about who called whom, when and for how long. Pro-democracy campaigner Kyaw (not his real name), didn’t worry much about his metadata even as the coup sent shockwaves across the country. The activist, who asked not to release his real name for fear of being arrested by the military, believes his personal data is safe because he is using a sim card made by Telenor, a multinational company. based in Norway – a country he manufactures in. associated with democracy and human rights.
But in July that sense of security was shattered when Telenor – the country’s second-largest telecommunications business –announced it will leave Myanmar, selling 100% of the company to M1, a Lebanese investment group. For the next seven months, the company struggled to escape Myanmar’s deteriorating security situation and military pressure to install surveillance equipment in its network. But when Telenor joined in international companies In a rush to withdraw, news of its departure has spooked human rights activists like Kyaw, who worry their data could fall into the hands of the military as a result of the sale.
Activists have tried to prevent this from happening. More than 470 civil society groups from Myanmar submit complaint against Telenor’s sale in July. That same month, Kyaw wrote a letter asking the company to delete his personal data — a request he believes Telenor will have to comply with because Norway complies with European regulations. GDPR Privacy Law. But Telenor’s reply, seen by WIRED, said GDPR “doesn’t apply in general to Telenor Myanmar,” exasperated Kyaw. “We are paying them, just like people in the EU are paying, but the treatment is very different,” he said. “The worrying thing is if the regime gets it under control,” said Joseph Wilde-Ramsing, a senior research fellow at SOMO, a Dutch group that investigates the ethics of multinational companies and is helping Kyaw. this data, then they will his case. “If they get a person and they find out the number, they can see who the number has been linked to and they can track family members and network contacts and other activists and use use that information to target people.”
This week, Kyaw is trying a new approach. On 8 February, he filed a legal complaint – in which his real name was redacted – alleging that Telenor’s Myanmar business was subject to GDPR as a subsidiary of a Norwegian company. The complaint, filed with the Norwegian data protection agency, outlines how the telecom giant is caught between wanting to leave Myanmar as quickly as possible and its responsibility to users who believe that the military is not working. Teams can use their data to track them.
“We understand Telenor wants to leave,” said Ketil Sellæg Ramberg, partner at law firm SANDS in Oslo, who is handling the case. “Our concern is that they are leaving the country without protecting the data of 18-19 million customers.” Ramberg says the complaint is an attempt to inspire the Norwegian data agency to intervene and to demonstrate the Norway-based group has control over data processing in Myanmar – a claim that Telenor denied. Telenor spokesman David Fidjeland said: “No data is processed in Norway or the EU and GDPR does not apply to Telenor Myanmar’s processing of customer data.
