PAKISTAN SPYING on its own citizens using Chinese technology, claims Amnesty International investigation report

Pakistan has created an oppressive surveillance apparatus enabled by Chinese and other foreign technologies, allowing the government to monitor, censor, and intercept the communications of its citizens, Amnesty International said in a report on Tuesday (Sep 9). The entire apparatus, according to the human rights body, is operating without legal oversight or transparency, resulting in grave violations of privacy and freedom for millions of Pakistanis. The technologies enable “constant snooping” on citizens’ communications, severely restricting freedom of expression and access to information.

Pakistan citizens spied on: Profiteering out of citizen snooping

Pakistan’s Web Monitoring System and Lawful Intercept Management System "operate like watchtowers, constantly snooping on the lives of ordinary citizens…", said Amnesty’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard.

“This dystopian reality is extremely dangerous because it operates in the shadow… This is nothing short of a vast and profitable economy of oppression,” said Callamard, adding that Pakistani people are paying the highest price.

Pakistan mass surveillance: What Amnesty International investigation found

After a year-long investigation in collaboration with multiple media and human rights organisations, Amnesty revealed the unlawful expansion of mass surveillance and censorship in Pakistan. Besides China, the technology comes from companies based in Germany, France, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, and the United States.

Key surveillance systems used by Pakistan to monitor its citizens

The key surveillance systems include the Web Monitoring System (WMS 2.0), a national firewall that enables censorship and internet blocking. There is also the Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS), which allows Pakistan’s military and intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), to intercept phone calls, texts, and internet data.

Who is giving Pakistan the tech to surveil its own people?

The original WMS (referred to as WMS 1.0) used technology from Canadian company Sandvine, now known as AppLogic Networks, which had supplied equipment since 2017 to Pakistani firms such as Inbox Technologies.

In 2023, WMS 1.0 was replaced by WMS 2.0, which uses advanced technology from China’s Geedge Networks, combined with hardware and software from US-based Niagara Networks and France’s Thales. Amnesty describes Geedge Networks’ technology as a commercialised version of China’s “Great Firewall”, the extensive censorship system now exported globally.

The LIMS system, meanwhile, uses technology from the German company Utimaco, distributed in Pakistan via UAE-based Datafusion.

How the web surveillance system is deployed in Pakistan

WMS 2.0 system, according to Amnesty, is capable of blocking internet access and specific content with virtually no transparency. It can block VPNs and censor content considered “unlawful” by Pakistani authorities.

The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) has mandated that all telecom operators must implement LIMS. This allows the military and ISI to access the private communications and data of millions of citizens.

What Pakistani authorities can see or hear through snooping on their citizens

According to the Amnesty report, more than four million people can be subjected to indiscriminate surveillance at any time through LIMS.

Authorities can view phone locations, calls, texts, and — in the case of HTTP traffic — full website content. For HTTPS traffic, they can access metadata such as which website was visited, but not the encrypted content.

No safeguards in Pakistan against mass surveillance

Pakistanis are being subjected to this surveillance within a legal vacuum. Laws such as the Fair Trial Act, which require warrants for surveillance, are often ignored.

A journalist interviewed by Amnesty revealed he was under surveillance after exposing government corruption: “Everything is monitored, be it email or calls. After the story, anyone I would speak to, even on WhatsApp, would come under scrutiny.” He added: “I go months without speaking to my family for fear they will be targeted.”

Pakistanis are funding their own surveillance

A startling finding in the report is that these surveillance systems are funded with public money.

Amnesty’s technologist Jurre van Bergen stated that both LIMS and WMS 2.0 are funded by taxpayer money, enabled by foreign technology, and used to silence dissent.

Calling LIMS “a tool of unlawful and indiscriminate surveillance in practice”, van Bergen said, “The surveillance is causing severe human rights harms against the Pakistani people.”