{"id":67144,"date":"2020-01-14T04:41:42","date_gmt":"2020-01-14T09:41:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=67144"},"modified":"2020-01-14T23:44:08","modified_gmt":"2020-01-15T04:44:08","slug":"ranjangatealleged-recordings-of-ranjan-ramanayakes-conversations-lead-to-legal-luminaries-and-social-activists-expressing-concerns-and-calling-for-a-right-to-privacy-act-to-be-implemen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=67144","title":{"rendered":"“RanjaGate”:Alleged Recordings of Ranjan Ramanayake\u2019s Conversations Lead to Legal Luminaries and Social Activists Expressing Concerns and Calling for a Right to Privacy Act to be Implemented in the Country"},"content":{"rendered":"

By<\/p>\n

Anurangi Singh and Maneshka Borham<\/strong><\/p>\n

J<\/strong>ust hours after the arrest of United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayake last week by the Colombo South Crimes Division of the Police, social media platforms were flooded with recordings of private conversations which had allegedly taken place between the MP and a number of prominent and popular persons in the country.<\/p>\n

The incident which has now earned the moniker \u2018Ranjangate\u2019 had the Police denying that they had released the contents of CDs taken to custody by them during the arrest of Ramanayake which purportedly contained these conversations that had been secretly recorded by the MP. Nevertheless, these sound clips were also widely featured on popular media outlets and continue to make rounds on social media platforms.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

While some conversations included sensitive information others appeared to be purely personal in nature. However, the MP\u2019s decision to record these conversations without the knowledge of the other party to the conversation has proved controversial. The alleged recorded conversations and their release publicly have not only revealed sensitive information but laid bare the private lives of public figures in the country. As a result subsequent to the incident, legal luminaries and activists have once again raised their concerns calling for a Right to Privacy Act to be implemented in the country.<\/p>\n

According to Nalaka Gunawardene, an analyst of digital media, while the political fallout from Ramanayake\u2019s records will be significant and its full extent remains to be seen it clearly highlights larger concerns that must be addressed. \u201cIt appears that Ranjan recorded private phone conversations without the informed consent of those involved. If that is indeed the case, it is unethical,\u201d he said noting that in practice it is also unlawful in some countries but not yet in Sri Lanka which lacks privacy protection laws. This leaves those aggrieved unable to take legal action against the errant MP.<\/p>\n

Attorney at Law Thishya Weragoda said, in Sri Lanka Privacy is governed by Roman-Dutch Law (RDL) and not by Statute. \u201cSo, a person has a right to his body and his sphere. There are aspects that are regulated, and certain aspects that are less spoken about. For example, telephone conversations or slandering\u201d he said. According to Weragoda a person has a right to his body, sphere and what he says or does. \u201cIf you are having a conversation with me and if it\u2019s intended to be a conversation with me nobody else can be privy to that conversation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

As for voice recordings, Weragoda says it is at a different level as it\u2019s a technical advancement. \u201cIt\u2019s from a different era. So we need to have statutory law which is not provided for. So one needs to study what is privileged under Roman-Dutch law and apply it here\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to Gunawardene the technology for capturing, storing and sharing photos, audio and video has become commonplace and easy to use. \u201cIt opens up the potential for both benefits and misuses. Investigative journalists and whistleblowers working in the public interest can secure incriminating evidence with digital tools\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut even in such pursuits, does the end justify the means? Who decides where public interest ends and the right to privacy begins? Just as important, do our law enforcement agencies have skills to authenticate leaked recordings, as it matters in view of the next digital wave almost upon us which is \u2018deepfakes\u2019 — where audio or video can be fabricated to fool most people\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Also commenting on this, Press Complaints Commission President Sukumar Rockwood told the Sunday Observer that under normal journalistic norms if a journalist asks a person a question and he is being recorded then the person recording should rightfully ask the other person if it is alright to record that person.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo record someone without their consent is not professional,\u201d he said adding that the person who is being recorded has the option of opting out of saying something that he doesn\u2019t want on record.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe editor\u2019s Code talks about privacy that applies to print media and lays down how recordings should be handled,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

However, despite being years behind, in late 2019, a draft of a Data Protection Act was formulated. At the time it was pointed out how international incidents such as Cambridge Analytica and the Aadhar card fraud made data protection vital. The proposed law even suggested the establishment of a data protection authority. However, it has made little headway since.<\/p>\n

According to Gunawardene, Ranjan\u2019s recording is not the first time in Sri Lanka that private phone conversations have been secretly captured and later releas<\/p>\n

ed online \u2013 nor would it be the last. \u201cFor now, until lawmakers provide us with some degree of privacy protection, our politicians, public officials, and celebrities will all need to be more cautious and discreet\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Gunawardene also noted that even the finest laws cannot ensure total protection of privacy or confidentiality in today\u2019s networked society.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I pointed out in December 2010 in the wake of WikiLeaks \u2018Cablegate\u2019 controversy (when over 250,000) confidential US diplomatic cables were leaked, we are living in a world where few if any, secrets can be guarded for long,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:Sunday Observer<\/em><\/p>\n

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By Anurangi Singh and Maneshka Borham Just hours after the arrest of United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayake last week by the Colombo South Crimes Division of the Police, social media platforms were flooded with recordings of private conversations which had allegedly taken place between the MP and a number of prominent and popular …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘“RanjaGate”:Alleged Recordings of Ranjan Ramanayake\u2019s Conversations Lead to Legal Luminaries and Social Activists Expressing Concerns and Calling for a Right to Privacy Act to be Implemented in the Country’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67144"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=67144"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67170,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67144\/revisions\/67170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=67144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=67144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=67144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}