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ISI authorised to trace, intercept calls, messages

News Desk
Wednesday, Jul 10, 2024

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has given its nod to the country’s premier spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to intercept and trace calls and messages in the apprehension of an offence against national security, Geo News reported.

The federal cabinet has approved the relevant circular allowing a designated officer of the ISI to carry out the tracing of calls under Section 54 of the Telecommunication (Re-organisation) Act 1996. However, the officer nominated by the agency cannot be of less than grade 18.

The aforementioned section of the Telecommunications Act allows the federal government to authorise any person or persons to intercept calls and messages or to trace calls through any telecommunication system in the interest of national security.

The move comes against the backdrop of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led government’s steps towards stricter social media regulations citing national security concerns and the prevailing ban on popular social media platform X.