The Head of the Competition Authority, Denar Biba, reported for almost 4 hours to the Economy Committee.
In front of the deputies, Biba requested more legal space to conduct investigations in several sensitive markets, since verifying data to prove that there are abuses is, in most cases, impossible, and as a result, there are no measures or penalties.
Thus, in an attempt to justify the Authority's results, Biba declared with admirable seriousness that "our counterparts take your cell phones," and that he too would like to have these "legal spaces" to better investigate problematic markets.
And since "the cell phone is the greatest traitor," according to him, perhaps in the name of fair competition we should hand over our phones along with the PIN code... just in case.
"Our counterparts take your cell phones. This (cell phone) is the biggest traitor for any kind of thing. If you really want to do scrupulous investigative work, this is it. Even those gentlemen of SPAK or the prosecution in Albania have had most of their successes from sky from Encrochat. We do not have this opportunity. The Poles have it, the Turks have it, the Italians, the Germans, all the EU countries have it," said Denar Biba.
Biba forgets that the Competition Authority is neither a prosecutor, nor a police officer, nor an intelligence agency. The investigations that this institution carries out remain within the framework and limits of its competences.
The Albanian law on the protection of personal data clearly prohibits interference in electronic communications, except in cases specified by the Criminal Procedure Code, where interception can only be carried out by court order and for criminal investigations.
No EU regulation or directive allows the collection of private data without judicial authorization, and especially not a mass surveillance of companies. Otherwise, we are talking about a flagrant violation of fundamental human rights, not an investigation into the milk market.
Instead of asking for more powers to wiretap phones, perhaps the Competition Authority should improve the way it collects evidence, monitors prices, punishes entities, and prevents the abuses that every citizen feels on their daily bill./ VoxNews