Tracking Right To Information Requests In Pakistan

Grantee Project

Bolo Bhi, meaning “speak up” in Urdu, is a not-for-profit organisation geared towards advocacy, policy and research in the areas of gender rights, government transparency, internet access, digital security and privacy.

Bolo Bhi is conducting research on the Pakistani government’s use of the Finfisher surveillance software, a digital spying server used for mass surveillance of the internet. Most recently, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) responded to Bolo Bhi’s request for information regarding surveillance equipment and list of blocked websites, saying it does not carry out surveillance on the internet. According to Canada-based Citizen Lab’s report published April 30, 2013, tests conducted detected the presence of FinFisher Command and Control servers in Pakistan. Regarding disclosure of the list of websites blocked by the PTA, it is still awaiting the decision of the competent authority (who that is, has not been specified).