The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions on Tuesday morning 31st 2024 made an application at the Milimani courts to be allowed to retain mobile phones confiscated from 23 people arrested during yesterday’s anti-abduction protests in Nairobi. Among those arrested was Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah.
ODPP’s Request to Extract Data
In the application, the ODPP said it needed the assistance of the Communication Authority of Kenya to retrieve the communications data. Part of the ODPP’s statement read:
“THAT, the mobile phones of the suspects need to be taken to Communication Authority of Kenya to extract WhatsApp, Facebook and X messages and photographs taken that are inciting members of the public against the state.”
The ODPP further wanted CCTV footage from nearby businesses, including Java and Naivas, to add to their case against the protesters.
Apprehensions of Privacy and Surveillance
This has raised a storm of debate among Kenyans about the ability of the CA to mine private communications on encrypted platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. Meta, the parent company of these platforms, assures users of end-to-end encryption, which theoretically prevents third parties from accessing message contents.
The request plays into the communications regulator’s recent moves to increase surveillance. That also includes a proposed monitoring of cybercafés and other public internet access points, raising public concerns about privacy. The timing is remarkable, considering the year’s prevailing fears of government misuse of phone data for tracking and possible abductions.
The case filed in Milimani courts sets critical questions of the balance between national security and individual privacy in Kenya’s increasingly digitized communication landscape.