Tag Archives | data

Top 27 Events of 2017 in Lebanon

By Rami on January 27, 2018 in Events

When it comes to platforms that collect certain data, I have a thing for trying to get behind the scenes and get some relevant statistic. So last week as I was chatting with a friend form Lebtivity, I felt curious to know about the top events in the country by user interest, and she was kind enough to run a query on their website and provide me with this list.

So there you go, the top 27 events from last year ordered by user interest. And don’t ask why I chose to limit the number to 27! 😜

Slashing internet prices in Lebanon is still not enough

By Rami on July 1, 2014 in Lebanon

Following the announcement of the ministry of telecommunications on their plan to lower internet prices and boost speeds last month, we all thought it would now be affordable for us to get the high speed connections we always wanted, and this was proven true after some ISPs started rolling out their plans with 4Mbps subscriptions for as low as $19.

However, it doesn’t seem like this sufficient for us to enjoy the newly offered packages. According to this excellent article by Matt Nash from Executive Magazine, the real problem now lies in the copper wires connecting our homes to the central offices. Apparently, these wires can handle transferring a maximum of 8Mbps given that you live near the central office in your area, and the speed of course decreases as the distance to your home increases.

This is in fact so bad that basically around 1/3 of internet users in Lebanon cannot get more than 2Mbps to their homes since they simply live too far away from a central office!

So I believe the biggest challenge facing the ministry right now is upgrading the existing infrastructure which can cost up to $1 billion if we decided to go for optical fiber. And until then, the maximum speed we are able to get will remain much less than what average users enjoy in other countries of our region.

Mobile internet users behavior in Lebanon

By Rami on March 31, 2013 in Lebanon

Alfa Telecommunications released some nice infographic during Arabnet 2013 two weeks ago showing the most popular smart phones among their users along with the most visited websites and what services are mostly used.

Click on the photo to enlarge.

For more about internet usage in Lebanon and e-commerce habits, make sure to check this inforgraphic compiled by Jad Rahme using data released by Ipsos MENA also during Arabnet 2013.

More on the data requested by the Information Branch

By Rami on December 5, 2012 in Lebanon

I just noticed Elnashra has published some classified communications between the interior miniter Marwan Charbel and prime minister Najib Mikati showing the data the Information Branch has requested following the assassination of General Wissam El Hassan.

In all of those documents the Information Branch is requesting the below types of data from the two mobile operators in Lebanon (Alfa and Touch), while there’s no mention of any ISP such as Cyberia, IDM, and the alike.

List of websites we visit along with all the information we submit to these websites including usernames and passwords. (It’s relatively difficult to obtain these information if HTTPS is enabled)
Copies of exchanged e-mails and chat sessions.
Recordings of calls made through VoIP applications.
List of downloaded apps.
Call detail records
SMS records.

So unlike what has been circulating in the past few days, and judging from the content of these communications, the Information Branch is only interested in data logged by mobile operators and not ISPs. In addition, there was no explicit interest in obtaining Facebook credentials as the media was reporting.

Anyway I still find it disturbing to know that mobile operators might not be only keeping track of visited websites, but also of submitted information, e-mails, chat sessions, and even VoIP calls recordings! And it seems like they’re really doing so since the telecommunications minister never claimed those records do not exist and instead is just rejecting the Information Branch’s requests.

P.S: I found it weird that some communications were dated August 18th 2012, and got received by the office of the prime minister on the same day, even though they’re requesting data from the period starting September 13th 2012 and ending November 10th 2012. It’s like asking for data from the future!

The information branch wants your passwords!

By Rami on December 3, 2012 in Lebanon

According to this article in Lebanon Files today, it seems that the intelligence-oriented Information Branch has asked the ministry of telecommunication for all SMSs that has been exchanged over the two months that preceded the assassination of General Wissam Al-Hassan back in October 19th, in addition to our internet accounts and Facebook passwords!

ذكرت صحيفة “السفير” ان شهية الأجهزة الأمنية ولا سيما شعبة المعلومات، فُتحت من جديد على “داتا” شبكة الاتصالات الخلوية في لبنان، مع فارق خطير هذه المرة، تمثل في عدم الاكتفاء بطلب تسليمها حركة الاتصالات، كما كان يحصل في السابق، ليصل الأمر إلى مستوى غير مسبوق، في خطورته وتداعياته، مع طلب الشعبة الاطلاع على محتوى كل الرسائل النصية الخلوية المتبادلة بين جميع المواطنين، على مدى الشهرين اللذين سبقا اغتيال اللواء وسام الحسن، إلى جانب الحصول على كلمات المرور (باسورد) لشبكات الإنترنت والفايسبوك التي يستعملها اللبنانيون.

وفي هذا السياق , أكد وزير الاتصالات نقولا صحناوي للصحيفة ان الوزارة تلقت طلباً بالحصول على محتوى الرسائل النصية وكلمات المرور (باسورد) لشبكات الإنترنت والفايسبوك العائدة إلى اللبنانيين، على مساحة كل لبنان، محذراً من أن الموافقة على هذه الاستباحة ستجر المزيد لاحقاً.

وأكد أنه رفع هذا الطلب إلى الأمانة العامة لمجلس الوزراء من أجل درسه، “مع توصية من قبله برفضه ورده، آخذاً على الهيئة القضائية المختصة بالنظر في طلبات الأجهزة الأمنية أنها تكتفي بتسجيل موقف عابر، بينما المطلوب أن تكون أكثر فعالية في صون الدستور وحقوق المواطنين.

It’s weird that the Information Branch is asking for our Facebook password since that means ISPs in Lebanon are actually keeping a log of all passwords we input! Anyway, I hope the government rejects this request and instead agfrees on supplying data related to specific people and during a reasonable time frame.

OMT knows more than it should!

By Rami on November 9, 2012 in Lebanon

I got this SMS from OMT a few days ago informing me that my mecanique fees which are due this month can be paid at some of their branches.

While I know this makes one’s life easier, I can’t but wonder how did OMT know my mecanique fees are due this month? And how exactly did they get hold of my phone number? It’s clear they have a deal with the ministry of finance, but that doesn’t justify giving them such kind of confidential data for marketing purposes!

I’m sure some employees at OMT can make copies of these data, so don’t be surprised if you find them online anytime soon.

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Tag Archives | data