An investigative journalism report by the Turkish news website Medyascope revealed that the Information Technologies and Communications Authority of the Turkish Ministry of Transportation (BTK) has been conducting extensive surveillance of citizens’ online activities for the past 18 months. Among the data collected by the BTK, are information about the websites visited, WhatsApp interactions, and location data.

According to Medyascope’s report, the BTK compelled Internet providers in Turkey to transfer all Internet traffic data of Turkish users to it on an hourly basis and in a predefined format. Internet providers who refused to transfer the data were sanctioned.

The BTK did not deny the allegations, but rather laconically stated that the collection of the data was necessary for “judicial and enforcement needs”, without providing any additional information on the matter.