On September 9, Amnesty International disclosed that Pakistan has launched one of the largest surveillance systems in the world, which has the capacity to track millions of citizens. The program consists of a Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS) together with Web Monitoring System 2.0 so that authorities can intercept over 4 million mobile devices and block nearly 2 million internet sessions in real time.
The tools, developed in collaboration with foreign technology suppliers, have been labelled as a direct threat to privacy and free expression. The rights groups have a concern that the system is being employed to silence opposition after years of political turmoil. Islamabad has not provided an official answer to this, but experts cautionthat the infrastructure resembles designs observed in the surveillance state of China.
