RICA and the bill of rights

R

robgun

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2009
Messages
109
Reaction score
0
RICA: The constitution says everyone has the right to privacy, which includes the right not to have the privacy of their communications infringed.

RICA makes provision for a citizen to sign away their right to privacy, by forcing them to make a choice whereby they either give up the use of their mobile phones to maintain that right or comply with regulation and agree to have the privacy of their communications infringed.

I am led to understand that this will aid in the fight against criminal activity but is this not a short sighted view of the situation.

I'll give an example: Organized syndicates in criminal activities such as drug trafficking, Human trafficking, etc. will very likely adapt their methods of communication in order to remain "off the grid"
eg. using public telephones rather than mobile phones

My biggest fear is that this regulation is not intended to prevent crime but disguised in such away as to part unwitting persons out of their rights to privacy.

I am all for new, innovative methods of fighting crime but not at the expense of my civil liberties.

Anybody have any thoughts on this?

P.S. For the record, the day my service provider blocks my sim due to RICA non-compliance is the day I choose my freedom and give up my phone.
 
FACT : RICA does not clearly specify who gets access to the RICA database and under what circumstances.

CONCLUSION : Information from the RICA database will be sold to spamming companies and possibly end up in the hands of people with criminal intent. Bottom line is, private and confidential information is being treated like toilet paper being sold at a flea market.

FACT : Devices exist that can receive all transmissions intended for cell phones in the particular tower's transmission range.

CONCLUSION : Being able to associate these transmissions to a physical person using the RICA database will increase the risk to the users of cell phones.

FACT : Cell phones can have their exact co-ordinates determined to within a couple of metres.

CONCLUSION : The criminals now not only have the ability to know what you're doing, and who you are, but also have the ability to find out where you are.

In all of this, I fail to see a single point where the customer is actually better off because of RICA.
 
My sentiments exactly. In no way can I think of any way in which the average South African is going to benefit from this act.

The spin doctors have distracted the country with happy phrases like crime reduction and increased safety when in fact the more likely scenario is the total opposite.

I can come up with a multitude of reasons how it would benefit a rouge government (as an example).

Here's 3 off the top of my head:

1) tracking and monitoring South Africans organising protests, and stopping them before they even start by possibly using GPS/Triangulation/Conversation monitoring and preventing organisers from rallying their supporters. Therby creating a false impression of "national safety" (Or worse, selectively allowing certain groups to acheive their objectives at the expense of others)

2) Intercepting communications surrounding intellectual property and new developments

3) Intercepting communications of any political opposition which is thought to be a threat and using that information to create propoganda.

I can see nothing good coming from this.

If anyone has any ideas on how this will benefit the average South African please explain. I am seriously looking for a more positive perception on this matter without being naive.
 
Last edited:
Will wait until the very last. If RICA still is active, then I will not be using my cellphone any more, but rather use a fixed line, as in the old days before cellphones.
 
Does the government not realise that criminals in this country have very easy access to fake identity documents. They can impliment RICA until they're blue in the face, ain't gonna help when all the bastards have RICA'd with fake ID's.
 
I have called my service provider, and told them that the ~R10 000 that I spend on my contracts every month will be lost due to RICA non-compliance...needless to say they weren't very happy. I am not willing to sign away my right to privacy just because of some ill-thought out law that was passed. A Telskum land-line would suffice instead of a cellular phone, it's not much inconvenience to me.
 
I have a work phone, i'll just let my personal number lapse and Vodacom will be out of pocket for that money.... and they can thank the guavamint for it...


Granted its not a lot of money, but I have better things to do than waste my time proving I am who I say I am when they've been taking money from me quite happily for the last 6+ years...
 
OMG people get your tinfoil hats !

I did my RICA thing this weekend when I upgraded my contract. All I did was make a copy of my ID and proof of address.
I didn't sign anything.

All RICA does is make you prove your details.... If you have a contract then they have this info anyway and will hand it over.

I place my bets that they are more interested in stopping the criminals then spying on the average joe.
 
Well if they have the info already.. then why the fsck don't the just RICA me anyway?

Whats the point of me providing the documents they ALREADY have?
 
RICA is about much more than just assigning your details to your phone, which is scary enough as has been stated.

It's a breach of privacy, sends our personal info' who knows where, and gives .gov the power to spy on whomever for whatsoever reason.

That's not a tinfoil hat situation, it's a total horror.

If you have anti-virus software, a firewall, lock your post box, or screen people on social networking 'sites, you should have enough brain power to figure out why RICA is scary.
 
RICA won't stop criminals - they can just use short-range cheap walky talkies while doing jobs, no-one can intercept because the range is too short.

And for phone calls, they can speak to each other using data transmission (encrypted VOIP). I seriously doubt that the Spooks could break that.
 
I must say that this thread is long overdue, coz I have already registered.

RICA will also make things easy for criminals to lead the officials, or whoever who will be listening, the wrong way coz they will just take anybody's phone and make all their deals. Then the "Guavamint" will come kicking down the door of the registered person of the sim card and question the person asking things that the poor person has never heard of.
Things are tough out there, and criminals are getting smart and smarter as technology advances. This wont stop anything, instead it will cause havoc.
 
More worried about safety than privacy on the whole.

If this helps them catch a few hijackers then I'm all for it. Of course I'd like to have the best of both worlds, but I don't see that happening in this case.
 
Nerfherder said:
OMG people get your tinfoil hats !

I did my RICA thing this weekend when I upgraded my contract. All I did was make a copy of my ID and proof of address.
I didn't sign anything.

All RICA does is make you prove your details.... If you have a contract then they have this info anyway and will hand it over.

I place my bets that they are more interested in stopping the criminals then spying on the average joe.
Click to expand...

or selling the database to yet another bunch of spammers... :sick:
They SPAM cellphones, e-mail, snail mail and even landline telephones!
Nice getting your pavement strewn with SPAM containing all your personal details...
Any way you look at it, someone's making money from the RICA deal.
 
Curtix2 said:
I bet you won't post up your IDNumber, Address, Phone number.
You won't post it here.:whistle:
Click to expand...

And you are trying to compare posting your details here to RICA? :rolleyes: You must be really worried now that the banks also have all your details.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X