December 1, 2023
Fears are growing that the Islamic Republic is trying to end practically all aspects of privacy and institute draconian policies that even the Third Reich could only dream about.
The key is an effort to give the state access to much of what residents do on their computers, so the regime can crack down on behavior it does not approve of as well as outright criminal activity.
At the center is a bill the Majlis has just passed that would mandate the Ministry of Islamic Guidance to launch a database that would collect information from everyone’s online activities with the stated goal of “continuous monitoring and evaluation of cultural indicators, people’s lifestyles, media influence and communications.” The reference to “lifestyles” has raised many an eyebrow.
The legislation would require government agencies, all domestic websites, and all online businesses to continuously feed their user information to the database.
The legislation passed the Majlis November 8 and is now being reviewed by the 12-man Council of Guardians, which must determine if the bill is in compliance with the Constitution and Islamic precepts.
One problem, critics say, is that Article 25 of the Constitution expressly prohibits the government from engaging in spying on citizens’ private communications. However, the Constitution includes the wording: “unless required by law.”
Reformist critic Abbas Abdi told the daily Ham-Mihan, “If they intend to monitor people’s private lives and gather personal information, this would only be for the purpose of controlling and intimidating the public.”
In an interview with the same newspaper, Ali Yazdikhah, vice chair of the Majlis Cultural Committee, acknowledged that the data to be collected, such as a person’s interests or participation in religious activities like Ashura, could be used to assess one’s commitment to Islamic “values and sanctities.”
The proposal would require a huge storage capacity plus major expenditures by private businesses and website managers to gather, sort and move all the data to be collected, which may pose a major impediment to the regime’s goals.