During the recent Israeli war on Lebanon, displaced individuals were sent mysterious surveys. Many of these questionnaires had no discernable sender or origin. Most alarmingly, the Lebanese authorities have yet to address this phenomenon, apart from a brief directive issued by the Council of Ministers.
The Council’s directive requested “all public administrations, public institutions, municipalities, and unions of municipalities to refrain from proceeding with any project involving electronic platforms in collaboration with foreign and non-governmental organizations before conducting technical inquiries about these platforms, their personnel, and their objectives.”
However, to date, no legal action has been taken against this threat to displaced persons’ data privacy or to identify those responsible for this exploitative data collection operation.
Lebanese residents also received Israeli warning calls and messages on their mobile phones during the war, urging them to evacuate marked locations immediately. Lebanese authorities were unable to stop these communications, identify their sources, or issue security guidelines for citizens to protect themselves.
The lack of response has raised concerns about the absence of a security plan to protect digital sovereignty. It is particularly distressing given the context of a brutal war where cyberattacks played a significant role.