A Digital Protection and Investigation Unit (UPIN) with expanded powers is being proposed. The new draft law on combating cybercrime provides for “direct and permanent technical access, available 24/7, to the information systems of electronic communications operators, Internet service providers, registration centers, and any other organization holding data necessary for investigations within its jurisdiction.” This means that for certain investigations, no warrant or order from an investigating judge or prosecutor is required for an agent to consult “identification, subscription, traffic, and, where applicable, content data” of communications.
The law includes “conditions and limits,” and “technical and security modalities” will be “set by decree” to regulate this access. A source close to the matter states that this provision addresses a specific operational need: “to allow for a rapid response in emergency situations.” They cite the example of a “child abduction,” where the delay of a standard judicial procedure would be incompatible with the urgent nature of the measures required. While Article 75 does not explicitly refer to these emergencies, the bill defines them in Article 2 as “any situation presenting a serious and imminent risk to the life or safety of a natural person or to the integrity of critical infrastructure.”
When legal conditions are not met, the text stipulates that “the Public Prosecutor or the investigating judge may order the interruption of the consultation and the destruction of the traffic or content data” obtained. According to the bill, in addition to providing magistrates with a secure and unalterable log specifying the agent’s identity, time, data consulted, and the case concerned, “any consultation of traffic or content data must be notified to them within twenty-four (24) hours.” The text also provides that “any use of this access for purposes unrelated to the missions of the UPIN is punishable by the penalties provided for in the Penal Code regarding abuse of office, without prejudice to disciplinary sanctions.”
Furthermore, an order from an investigating judge or authorization from the Public Prosecutor remains required for the expedited preservation of stored data, the production of electronic data, the real-time collection of traffic data, and the interception of content data during investigations into certain offenses. The text specifically refers to serious offenses that will be listed by decree.
Captured & Published at: 2026-09-03 09:53:34 (Madagascar Local Time EAT)
Original Source: https://www.2424.mg/lutte-contre-la-cybercriminalite-lacces-direct-et-permanent-de-la-police-numerique-aux-donnees-conservees-par-les-operateurs-et-dautres-organismes-en-cours-dexamen/