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Tag Archives | nicolas sehnaoui

More on the data requested by the Information Branch

By 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!

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The information branch wants your passwords!

By 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.

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4G soon in Lebanon

By on November 1, 2012 in Lebanon

According to this article in Annahar today, telecom minister Nicolas Sehnaoui announced that live 4G tests will start on Novemeber 16 at Beirut Digital District, and the service will be commercially launched on April 23rd 2013 in selected areas.

It’s definitely about time we get 4G, but I admit I wasn’t expecting we will be getting the service anytime soon given how slow such projects go in Lebanon! I also hope its commercial launch is not going to witness the same mess that happened when we first got 3G.

Anyway, you can read about Sehnaoui’s announcement here and watch him tonight talking about it in Talk of The Town on MTV.

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Free night traffic decree posted in official gazette

By on May 7, 2012 in Lebanon

The decree stating that internet night traffic from 12AM to 7AM should be free has be published in the official gazette last Thursday. But it looks like it is currently exclusive to Ogero subscribers only as I’m subscribed to IDM and still get the following message each time I log in to my account:

Note that your telephone line is NOT Unlimited nights enabled since your line did not pass the feasibility test done to support such service enhancement.
We would like to assure you that we intend to offer this service for all our subscribers and will be working on enabling your line with Unlimited night traffic , and whenever such change will take place we will inform you accordingly.

Almost all IDM subscriber in Beirut get double the speed and unlimited traffic at night, while others outside Beirut get the message above. If a subscriber’s phone line cannot handle more than 1mbps, why can’t they just enable the unlimited night traffic alone for them while keeping their speed as it is?!

Anyway, you may click here to read the full text of decree as shared by minister Nicolas Sehnaoui on twitter. I hope it doesn’t take too long until all ISPs abide by it!

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Free internet quota at night for everyone?

By on April 4, 2012 in Lebanon

Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui announced on twitter yesterday that unlimited internet quota from 12AM to 7AM has been approved by the government and will be activated as soon as the decision is published in the official gazette.

Some ISPs already have the unlimited night traffic offered to some of there users depending to which telephone exchange office they’re connected. My parents subscription with IDM in Beirut for example gets double the speed and unlimited traffic at night, while my IDM subscription in Aramoun doesn’t because they claim it didn’t pass some “feasibility test” that was performed.

Anyway, I hope it doesn’t take too much time before we get that feature activated for everyone!

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Waiting for Godot

By on December 16, 2011 in Lebanon

The government always succeeds to leave us on our tiptoes waiting for the “next big thing” to solve the problems with our cellular networks.

It started with the poor service following the expansion two years ago, then the absence of 3G, and now the whole mess they got themselves into after introducing 3G! Thus the need for $110 million now to enhance the two networks and eventually put an end to the problems in 8 months.

“I am happy to announce to the Lebanese that the National Quality of Services for the cellular networks will put an end to the poor mobile services. This plan will take eight months to be completed. But the Lebanese will feel the positive results in two to three months. Today I have signed the appropriate investment decision which will allow the two cellular companies, Mtc Touch and Alfa, to start work on this big project,” the minister said. Source

I wonder what are we going to anticipate next!

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