11 March 2006

Dubai: Internet cafe owners fear they will lose customers following an announcement that all internet surfers logging on in web cafes could in future have their details recorded and kept on file.

They worry that storing additional personal information will encumber their businesses.

However, internet users who frequent cyber cafes are divided on the issue of having their anonymity taken away from them whilst others are indifferent and say they have nothing to hide.

eCompany, the internet branch of Etisalat which has already put in place the identification process in about 200 of the 600 internet cafes in the country, said this is to curb cyber crime.

Abdullah Hashim, assistant general manager of eCompany, said it is important for users to understand the motive behind the policy. "We would like to reassure them that this information will be kept confidential and will only be shared in case it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities," said Hashim.

He said information would be keep for at least a year and would only be released to police in the event of an investigation. "The motive behind this is to control any abuse originating from cafes such as abusive and impersonating type of e-mails, hacking and spamming," said Hashim.

Preeti Binda, manager of the Cosmopolitan Internet Caf in Satwa, said she was certain to lose customers because they would go in search of another caf where they will not feel they are being policed.

Bindra said she had no personal details of any users of the internet caf. "The people around Satwa are often on visit visas looking for jobs, they don't carry their ID with them and if they're on holiday they won't want all their information on file," she said.

Jumeirah-based F1 Net Caf manager Sandra Norman agreed saying she has about 4,000 visitors a month using the caf.

"Storing all that information would be a huge problem. We do have a pretty good idea of what user's are up to but it's confidential. We have our own system which blocks if necessary," said Norman.

Some internet caf managers are not too worried about the security measure and think it might boost business. Jilani Khan, manager of the Internet Caf in Diyafah Street said they have a lot of regular users who all have a membership.

Mixed response
Monitoring users is a good idea if it can reduce the amount of hacking and spreading viruses, said British internet user Jim Drane.

"I'm not really bothered if someone looks at what I'm doing on the net. If you can track where viruses come from then I think it's a good security measure," he said.

Abdul Rahman Al Serkal, from the UAE, said he would walk straight out of an internet caf if they asked him for all his details before logging on. "Having freedom of expression and freedom of knowledge anonymously is valid. To be monitored is an invasion of privacy."

J.R. Datu, from the Philippines, a frequent internet user surfs the web around 3 to 4 hours a day and spends most of his time emailing. "I come and go as I please I don't mind giving my details. It would only take a few minutes and I don't think anybody would really check what I do," said Datu.

By Emmanuelle Landais

Gulf News 2006. All rights reserved.