SRI claims SII Analytics project poses no threat to citizens’ rights, freedoms, denies ‘mass surveillance’

The SII Analytics project poses no threat to the citizens’ rights and freedoms, because if it did it wouldn’t have been eligible to access European funds, the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) informs.

According to this institution, the system is not connected to the Internet and has no classified data whatsoever or which it would have needed a justice’s warrant for, Agerpres reports, quoting the intelligence service.

Four NGOs sent an open letter to several national and European institutions, asking for the cancellation of a Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) project, financed by European funds, which they claim is allegedly a ‘mass surveillance’ one. The signatories asked for the cancellation of the auction and of the project, arguing that they violate the fundamental rights, Romanian Journal informed at the time.

The SRI officials assert that the SII Analytics has no goal to collect data from institutions, but to capitalize on the already existing data, and also that it doesn’t intercept people’s conversations. Likewise, the service insists upon the fact that the system is not an e-governance project.

“It’s a system for Romania’s modernization and which, in the field of intelligence, it brings us to the civilized world,” the SRI officials say. According to them, the SII Analytics platform will considerably speed up the search of the relevant information in the already existing databases.

“The SII Analytics will help the state bodies to analyse better, in a more structured, faster, more relevant way the significant amount of data they have at their disposal already. Now, finding a relevant piece of information has to do with the user’s level of experience and luck,” the SRI officials explain, adding that this system will downsize by up to 90% the data access time.

As regards the beneficiaries of this platform, the SRI say they are scores, among which the Home Affairs Ministry, the Public Ministry, the Public Finances Ministry, the Tax Antifraud General Directorate.

The platform’s security is ensured, say the SRI, by auditors at the very level of each beneficiary, each activity in the system being registered on a daily basis. Any attempt of using the system in one’s own interest or abusively is identified by internal especially built-in filters, and it is sanctioned, criminally included, the SRI adds.