Lebanese Snoops Wants Everybody's Text Messages

And usernames. And passwords.

A controversy arose in Lebanon this past week over revelations that the country's Internal Security Forces (ISF) demanded the content of all SMS text messages sent between September 13 and November 10 of this year, as well as usernames and passwords for services like Blackberry Messenger and Facebook. The requests were submitted to the Ministry of Telecommunciations.

Lebanon's Telecommunications Minister, Nicola Sehnaoui, took to Twitter December 3 to rally his followers against the privacy-invasive data request. "RT, SHARE, EMAIL, BLOG," Sehnaoui urged. "Use ANY means you find fit to say 'As a Lebanese Citizen I refuse to give up on my Internet Privacy' #ProtectPrivacy." Retweeted more than 300 times, his post seemed to capture the attention of those not yet aware that the ISF's Information Branch had issued this outrageous blanket demand for digital communications data.