No thought has been given to how Garrett’s conversation was obtained

Dear Editor,

Over the past few days I have watched in disappointment, as our society has become enthralled in this racial slur debacle, which stemmed from leaked private conversations which a young woman was having with her friends. As we salivate over this little titbit of information that to some seems damning for the young professional, very little thought has been given to how this information was obtained. Very little thought has been given to the other personal information about this individual’s private life that is now in the hands of her violator and being spread to the inboxes of the curious and unconscionable. Very little thought is being given to the gross violation of this individual’s legal right to privacy. Most of all, very little thought has been given to the fact that this could have happened to any one of us and everyone has information and things said in private chats that they would never want to be made public.

The Cyber Security Bill of 2016 is still to be enacted and in this social media era where we have somehow forgotten to be human beings, it is needed more than ever. Guyana is a small society with less than 750,000 people; we simply cannot allow these abhorrent acts that violate an individual’s fundamental right to continue with impunity.

I see the bigger picture here and refuse to be distracted by seemingly juicy snippets, and call on others to do the same. What Ms Garrett said in her private conversations with her friends is none of my business; it’s none of our business.

Yours faithfully,

Stacey Fraser