Sir, – The refusal of the Irish authorities to reveal the extent to which they sought orders for the disclosure of content from Vodafone is a matter of the gravest concern ("Thousands of requests made to secretly track Irish calls", June 6th). While one might accept that the details of such warrants may be sensitive, the number of warrants issued simply gives a measure of how much covert surveillance is taking place.
In a functioning democracy, citizens have a right to know the extent to which the apparatus of state impinges upon their privacy and they have a right to challenge the state if they feel that the state is exercising the enormous power that they have vested in it inappropriately.
Entire networks have been penetrated covertly by a State that is not prepared to quantify the extent of its surveillance.
This matter needs to be clarified immediately. The State has already been found to be utterly remiss in its administration of justice. Seen in this context, any attempt to prevent publication of these figures can only be interpreted as an indication that the State has something to hide from its citizens. – Yours, etc,
BOB STRUNZ,
Ogonnelloe,
Scariff, Co Clare.