WE WILL NOT SNOOP ON PRIVATE PHONE CALLS -GOVERNMENT
GOVERNMENT has no plans to snoop on citizens’ private phone conversations using the recently launched Telecommunications, Traffic Monitoring and Revenue Assurance System (TTMS), which is meant to fight cyber-crimes.
TTMS is a civil regulatory tool that enables Government, through the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz), to ensure accountability and transparency in telecom services.
It assists authorities to track telecommunications records, thus helping combat illegal international communications and sophisticated cyber-crimes such as card fraud. In his speech at the launch of the TTMS in Harare last week, Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services Minister Dr Jenfan Muswere said the system will facilitate growth of the telecommunications sector.
“This system is not meant to snoop into people’s private calls but is a civil tool to track mobile corporates and allow the telecommunications industry to grow. The system is there to track records and has no capacity to record calls,” he said.
“It does not have that capability to intercept the content; it is an accounting digital tool focusing on statistics, quality of service and to make sure Government kills the cancer of refining across the country.”
TTMS, he added, is an important digital accounting revenue-monitoring system that exposes “grey traffic”, which is the use of illegal exchanges to communicate transnationally.
“The grey traffic has proven that the country and operators are losing millions of dollars through illegal connections. Therefore, I want to assure the nation that the days of illegal sim boxes and refining are over because of the digital civil tool which is now being deployed.”
Minister Muswere said TTMS will ensure the country does not lose foreign currency but standardises quality of service to improve the digital economy.
In an interview on the sidelines of the launch, Potraz director-general Dr Gift Machengete said TTMS is cutting-edge technology.
