The government is exploring new ways to monitor its citizens

folarin okunola

June 13, 2017 6:25 PM

Reports out of Egypt suggest that the country may be considering a bill that would require companies like Uber to host the servers locally in the country.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, pictured in April 2017, ratified a law that heavily regulates NGOs

Egypt seems to possess a desire to own the title of Africa’s most intrusive government. Reports have revealed that the Egyptian government has requested to access Heaven, Uber’s internal software which it uses to track its customers and drivers.

According to a New York Times report, the Egyptian government made the request but Uber declined. The report also said the military intelligence arm of the Egyptian government made a similar request to an indigenous ride-hailing platform, Careem, which was also declined.

The report says Careem was offered some form of preferential treatment in exchange for access to the company’s customer and driver software. The company also said it may soon not have a choice.

ALSO READ: The government wants people to get a 'social media license'

Reports out of Egypt suggest that the country may be considering a bill that would require companies like Uber to host the servers locally in the country and agree to give private data on request.

This is not the first time Egypt has attempted to disregard its citizens right to privacy. Egyptian president Abdeh Fattah El-Sisi is notorious for his government's constant interference with internet access to curb dissent amongst the population or shut down opposition.

Over the past decade or so, various African governments have tried some kind of antics or the other to control Internet access and monitor/track citizens.

Do you think government control like this is possible in Nigeria? If the government tries something like this in Nigeria, how would you react? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

folarin okunola