Lam wants disclosure of telecommunication interception requests

Lawmaker Agnes Lam has proposed that telecommunication companies be required to release the annual number of requests from police to intercept private communications conducted over the internet.

The local government is currently conducting a public consultation on a telecommunication interception law.

Regarding the bill, Lam voiced two proposals. The first consists of having
telecommunication operators disclosing the police’s annual number of requests to intercept communications to increase transparency. “Numbers must be disclosed to ensure that the police force is not abusing its power [of intercepting communications],” Lam declared. She said that she respects the police force’s statement that regarding the inconvenience of releasing information about ongoing investigations, however, she believes that telecommunication operators should be authorized the reveal the data.

Lam’s second proposal suggests that an independent investigation committee be established to receive assistance requests from residents.

In Lam’s opinion, a single resident will have many difficulties in suing any party if he or she suspects their communications are being intercepted by that party.

An independent investigation committee is believed to keep the appealing cost to the minimum and also protect the public.   

Unemployment rate remains at 1.8 percent

Macau’s general unemployment rate from June to August 2018 was 1.8 percent, the unemployment rate of local residents stood at 2.4 percent, the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) announced.

The latest report from DSEC showed that all three indicators held stable as in the previous period from May to July 2018. Total labor force was 392,100 for the period and the labor force participation rate was 71 percent. Total employment was 385,000 and number of employed residents totaled 283,700, down by 500 and 600 respectively from the previous period.

Analyzed by industry, employment in hotels, restaurants and the construction sector registered decreases, while employment in recreational, cultural, gaming and other services increased.

The number of people unemployed was 7,100, similar to the previous period. With fresh graduates entering the labor market, the proportion of fresh labor force entrants searching for their first job increased by 4.9 percentage points to 21 percent of the total unemployed.

In comparison with the same period in 2017, the labor force participation rate and the unemployment rate dropped by 0.5 and 0.2 percentage points respectively, while the underemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage points.