Clipping of news on Brazilian Culture, Law and Citizenship
06/09/2017
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
Gabriel Francisco Ribeiro Do UOL, in São Paulo 06/08/2017 18h13 /
Anatel (Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações) refuted the allegations of the site "Telephone" and indicated that the page is out of legality. The website, which generated controversy this week for divulging personal data of Brazilians as phones (landline and mobile), addresses (residential and commercial) and even e-mails, defended itself based on the laws of the agency. Anatel says that the regulation cited by the site "does not legally support the disclosure of data."
After the growing controversy and report of UOL Tecnologia with lawyers doubting the origin of the data, the page updated on Thursday (8) the site and questioned the accusations of illegality.
We emphasize that at no time does the telephone.ninja practices illegal acts or aims to cause any kind of personal injury to anyone. Our work aims to facilitate access to data, based on the growing philosophy of open data transparency. In addition, the telephone companies themselves provide online consultation by the name of the subscriber "
Phone number
The site offers, in fact, links to queries of subscribers of Vivo, TIM, Oi and Embratel through searches by name. But this list would only be for landline and not cell phone or address. In addition, in tests done by UOL Technology, did not return any data when entering only full name of customers.
The page did not return the request for interview made by the report, but justifies the activity on its page based on the General Telecommunications Law and resolutions of Anatel.
Anatel refutes allegations
Asked by UOL Tecnologia since last Tuesday (6), the technical area of Anatel expressed this Thursday refuting the allegations of "Telephone". Check it:
"In spite of the phone.ninja website saying that the information disclosed came from the providers' databases, there are no elements that confirm this version. The aforementioned regulation (in consultation to the website on 08/06/2017), incidentally, Does not legally support the disclosure of data by the site:
- Article 3, item VI of Law 9.472 / 97 - the user's right to require that his telephone number not be disclosed;
- Article 213 of Law 9.472 / 97 - provides for the obligation of telecommunications operators to provide data for the publication of lists exclusively of landlines;
- Anatel Resolution No. 345/03 - also contains only telephone directories of fixed telephones associated with the name and address of the subscriber. Among its provisions is the obligation of a formal agreement between the company producing the telephone directory and the fixed-line operator (article 7). "
The site "Telephone" provides another excerpt as justification. The Annex to Anatel Resolution No. 066/98 would have an article that states that "the service provider shall be obliged to provide, within reasonable time periods and in a non-discriminatory manner, its list of subscribers to whom it wishes to disclose it" Something that would be worth to the old phone books. Despite this, the company does not say which company would be bound to have the "formal agreement" to have access to the phone list.
All the justifications of the Telephone.Ninja are about fixed telephones. But the site informs cell phones, address and email of Brazilians. Anatel also states that its regulation "prohibits the provider from providing the number of mobile phones, unless there is express consent from the consumer" and "does not provide for e-mail disclosure".
Legislation is aggravating
In an issue sent to UOL, Anatel also states that "the personal data of users of telecommunications services are protected by the Federal Constitution, by the General Telecommunications Law, by the Civil Internet Framework and by Anatel Regulations."
Lawyers heard by UOL Tecnologia had already quoted that the Constitution, Civil Code and Civil Internet, in terms that protect the image and privacy of Brazilians, can be used against the page. However, since the site is hosted outside Brazil, an action would be costly and time-consuming.
The page itself offers an option to remove user data, which can search for its name and click on a link that removes the data. The origin of these data, however, remains obscure and questionable. The "Telephone" did not explain how it receives the data, supposedly passed by the operators.
As there is a cross-referencing of different people's information, such as address and email, analysts suggest that a "data mining" occur on the internet. Experts also warn that read terms of use and contracts to know if the user provides some authorization for their data to become public both with operators and in register of websites.
"Telephone" is not the first and only site to provide such a service on the Internet today - it just had the bad luck to stir up controversy over its name. The Congress has been working on a project that deals with personal data of Brazilians since 2012, but the "gray zone" of the legislation facilitates the performance of such sites.
Source: Uol News
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This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.