Telenor faces mounting pressure over allegations of handing over user data to Myanmar junta

Norwegian telecom company Telenor is facing mounting pressure in Norway over allegations that it handed over personal data of phone users to the Myanmar military junta following the February 2021 military coup, with human rights and corporate accountability debates resurfacing, according to reports. Telenor is facing renewed legal and political pressure in Norway over accusations that its Myanmar subsidiary transferred critical personal data of phone users to the Myanmar military. A class-action lawsuit has been filed in Norway on behalf of over 1,200 Myanmar phone users, who allege their personal data was handed over to the military junta, with support from the Justice and Accountability Initiative, the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO), and the Open Society Justice Initiative. The Guardian and The Observer, citing documents obtained by Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, reported that Telenor Myanmar complied with 96 percent of the 153 data requests made by the junta after the coup. This means Telenor Myanmar handed over 147 data points to the junta. The lawsuit alleges that Telenor Myanmar provided call records, location data, and other metadata to the Myanmar military, leading to the arrest, imprisonment, torture, and in some cases, execution of anti-coup protesters and democracy activists. Telenor denies legal responsibility, stating it operated under duress from the junta and needed to protect the lives of its Myanmar employees. A particular focus of the case is related to Ko Phyo Zeyar Thaw, a former Member of Parliament for the National League for Democracy (NLD), a hip-hop artist, and a democracy activist. According to the Open Society Justice Initiative, the junta requested records related to Ko Phyo Zeyar Thaw's phone number on October 31, 2021, after which he was arrested in Yangon on November 18, 2021. He was sentenced to death in a secret trial in January 2022 and executed by hanging in July 2022 along with three other democracy activists. People's Spring, citing The Observer, reported that the junta-controlled Ministry of Communications requested the data under the pretext of "national security." Daw Thazin, Ko Phyo Zeyar Thaw's wife, also questioned how the military discovered their hiding place, and human rights groups and plaintiffs suggest that the phone data allegedly provided by Telenor may have aided the junta's tracking efforts. Telenor Myanmar was one of the largest telecom companies in the country, having started operations in 2014 during Myanmar's democratic transition and acquiring approximately 16 to 18 million subscribers. However, it sold its Myanmar operations in 2022 and exited the country. Human rights groups point out that many believed Telenor, as an international company majority-owned by the Norwegian government, would offer greater protection for the personal data of its Myanmar users. The Norwegian National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines also assessed that Telenor had not conducted adequate human rights due diligence concerning its operations and exit from Myanmar. Telenor, however, disagrees with parts of this assessment and maintains that the primary responsibility for human rights violations in Myanmar lies solely with the Myanmar military. Furthermore, Justice For Myanmar and ICJ Norway have filed a complaint with the police against Telenor and former executives of its Myanmar operations, accusing them of violating Norway's sanctions laws between 2018 and 2022. Allegations include the installation of surveillance technologies, the transfer of such equipment during the business sale, and the handover of user data to the Myanmar military. While a Norwegian court has yet to determine Telenor's legal liability in this case, it has further heightened international attention on the human rights responsibilities of telecom companies operating under authoritarian regimes, user data protection, and corporate ethics.