Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui rejected a Lebanese security services request for "telecoms data"--which would have allowed agents to track telephone communications of individuals--because it breached current law, The Daily Star reports. In a Twitter remark, Sehnaoui said, "Lebanese people's privacy rights improved consistently after a three-hour struggle at Council of Ministers (Cabinet)." Security services requested telecoms access because of an alleged plot to assassinate a high-level security official, the reports states, but Sehnaoui halted access because a wiretapping law prevents such data from being accessed by state security forces unless there is a state emergency. The Cabinet has agreed to create a committee--led by the prime minister--to address possible amendments to the law.
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