MACRA warns general public from spreading personal information related to COVID-19

By Duncan Mlanjira

Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA), through the Malawi Computer Emergency Response Team (MwCERT), says is has noted with concern the rapid spread and distribution of fake news and information related to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) being posted on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp.

MwCERT notes that personal details of COVID-19 victims are being shared and distributed without the authorization of the people affected, saying this is a violation of the right to privacy under Section 21 (c) of the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi.

“In addition, it is also an offence under Section 84(8)(a) of the Electronic Transactions and Cybersecurity Act, 2016, which prohibits the communication, disclosure and transmission of personal data without authorization from the data subject.

“The public is, therefore, advised to refrain from committing these acts as such conduct may attract serious legal sanctions,” says the strong message from MwCERT.

MwCERT then asks the public to “beware of Coronavirus-themed phishing emails as Cybecriminals are exploiting the Coronavirus outbreak to send fake emails with dangerous links”.

It also warns people from clicking on links in unsolicited emails and attachments related to COVID-19 and to “use trusted sources such as legitimate, Government websites for up-to-date, fact-based information about COVID-19”.

“Refrain from revealing personal or financial information related to COVID-19 victims [and] desist from sharing any unverified details on the Coronavirus.

“Be cautious of online advertisements selling hygienic products such as masks, hand sanitizers and other products.”

The public is being asked report any incident of cyber related attack through email: mwcert@macra.org.mw; consumer-help@macra.org.mw; info@macra.org.mw or dg-macra@macra.org.mw.

Phone number is 01 810 497; Fax on 01 811 911 while postal reporting should be channeled to: Director General, MACRA, Private Bag 261, Blantyre.

Physical reporting can be done at MACRA House, Salmin Amour Road, Ginnery Corner, Blantyre.

For more information, the public can access the websites: www.mwcert.mw or www.macra.org.mw.

At every press conference to update the nation of the pandemic, the Special Cabinet Committee on COVID-19, that is chaired by Minister of Health & Population Jappie Mhango, always strongly warns the public from spreading any unofficial information on the pandemic through social media, saying this might create fear and panic. 

Just last week a message and an accompanying voice note went viral on social media, whose source was from a Forex Bureau teller, that identified a business lady in Lunzu as being one of the three that Minister Mhango announced as being new confirmed cases of COVID-19.

But the business lady (name withheld) says this was just a matter of mistaken identity and that the message put her in jeopardy and trauma as she was being discriminated against.

The message says the lady had visited the said Forex Bureau to deposit forex and the teller that was servicing her enquired where she had sourced the US dollars, to which the customer responded that she had just returned from India.

When the lady left, the teller alerted her supervisor, who the ordered her to go for screening at Kameza, where she was told she was negative but whilst there she explained why she had to come for tests and in the process revealed the identity of the customer she dealt with and further went on to say the customer had asked if she should not mention the incident.

The staff at the screening centre at Kameza then sent a voice note to someone else and explained what had happened and also revealed the name. The other source spread the message further by saying the customer got tested and was found positive.

The customer then alerted this reporter, saying she is living in fear since she is being discriminated against and might affect her business.

She confirmed that she flew to India on March 7 for medical attention as she has some hip problems that need operations.

She said she was in India for 12 days before returning on March 20 and upon her arrival at Kamuzu International Airport, there was no screening process but was only questioned if she felt any symptoms of COVID-19.  

“I told them I didn’t have such symptoms and I was given a phone number to call if I was to feel any of the symptoms and that I should go on self isolation.

“Upon my arrival at home, I went straight into self quarantine and during that I never experienced any symptoms of COVID-19 but on my 11th day back in Malawi, I had a sleepless night due to body aches which I always feel because of my hip problems.

“The next day I went to see my doctor who gave me an injection of painkillers and from there I went to the bank to upload my cash passport card. 

There I was assisted accordingly and from there I went back home. After hearing the President’s speech that there are several places for COVID-19 testing, I decided to go for it on Monday (April 6) together with my maid, whom I found coughing upon my return.”

She got shocked the following day (Tuesday, April 7), whilst waiting the results when her brother forwarded her a message that was circulating in Johannesburg on social media linking her to the Lunzu lady revealed by the Minister during the press conference.

“Yet the results hadn’t been out by then, which I received just this afternoon (Wednesday April 8).”

She suspects that the lady teller who assisted her at the Forex Bureau must be the one who has circulated the false information because the message she received from her brother indicates that after she had left the bank, the teller alerted her supervisors.

The message, which we are in possession of, indicates that the teller was advised to go for screening at Kameza and “this was probably where she revealed that she had been in touch with me”.

“When I contacted her, she was very evasive and only furnished me with her boss’s number and when I called it, he didn’t pick up my calls until tonight (Wednesday) when he called me, saying he would handle the case.

“And from my conversation with the teller and her boss, it seems it’s the screening clinic staff that spread my name further and when I called the doctor who had me tested, she assured me that my results are negative, but she refused my request to see her, saying ‘my job is done, you are OK’.”

However, Minister Mhango did not disclose names at the press conference convened with fellow members of the Special Cabinet Committee but just that one case in Blantyre involves a 34-year-old lady, who is a family relation of the first case that was registered on April 3. 

The Minister said the other case is for a 28-year-old female, who travelled from London, UK on March 19, 2020 and the third was Chikwawa-based 30-year-old male, who had travelled from South Africa on March 16, 2020.

When contacted on Thursday morning, the Forex Bureau did not respond to our questionnaire that asked if customer confidentiality hadn’t been breached by their teller on behalf of the bank and what her supervisor said to assure the customer.

The bank’s spokesperson was asked by this reporter if it had reported the incident to the authorities that the owner, now a suspect of Covid case, paid a visit to the Forex Bureau and tendered some forex and if the forex tendered had been screened as well.

The doctor that handled the Lunzu lady’s tests (name withheld) also did not respond to our questionnaire that enquired if her officers at Kameza were ethical by revealing what has been tested there.

She was also asked if the Cabinet Committee on COVID had been notified of this case and if the Lunzu case announced by the Cabinet Committee on Tuesday really about the customer in question.

That puts the question of how qualified the officers at Kameza screening centre are, who have violated what the Minister strictly said that COVID-19 cases can only be revealed by the Cabinet Committee.