South African court declares bulk interception unlawful and invalid

The Constitutional Court of South Africa issued a landmark judgement declaring that secret and unchecked surveillance practices and bulk interception used by the South African National Communications Centre is unlawful unless explicitly stated in law.

The case was brought forward by the amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism and journalist Stephen ‘Sam’ Sole, whose phone communications had been recorded for at least 6 months in 2008. Until this judgement, the South African National Communication Centre has surveilled millions of people regardless of whether they were residents of South Africa, according to Privacy International.