Asia Foundation Accused of Secretly Harvesting Sensitive Mobile Data in Nepal for U.S. Intelligence Agenda

KATHMANDU: A shocking revelation has surfaced regarding The Asia Foundation, an American non-governmental organization, which is accused of collecting sensitive and confidential personal details of Nepali mobile users.

The data was obtained with the help of a Nepali organization and the National Natural Resource and Finance Commission, under the guise of conducting research on radio frequency royalties.

Investigations by ukeraa have uncovered that Finance Commission member Juddha Bahadur Gurung pressured officials to release private data to Environmental Research Institute for Sustainable Development Pvt. Ltd., a local affiliate of The Asia Foundation.

Reports indicate that Gurung issued several written orders to the Commission’s Secretary, compelling the disclosure of this highly sensitive information to the orgganization.

In an April 30, 2023 (2080/01/17) letter, Gurung acknowledged seeking The Asia Foundation’s help for the royalty study, directly contradicting earlier statements where ukeraa was told that no budget had been allocated for the study. Gurung admitted that the Commission had actually set aside funds, which were later cut by 20% by the government.

When initial requests failed to deliver the expected data, Gurung issued a more forceful directive on June 18, 2023 (2080/03/04), instructing officials to prepare a nationwide GIS database, incorporating BTS tower locations, and detailed mobile user or household data at local levels, all within a week.

Sensitive Data Collected Under False Pretenses
The private company requested access to detailed mobile user databases at the local level, GIS data, and BTS tower locations from telecom companies.

When ukeraa reached out to Senior Program Officer Suryaman Shrestha of the private company, he initially confirmed the request for information about tower locations and SIM card operations, regardless of the cards' origin. However, after claiming they had received only estimated information, Shrestha later denied obtaining any data.

A source from the Nepal Telecommunications Authority, however, confirmed to ukeraa that the data sought for the frequency royalty study had indeed been provided to the Finance Commission upon request.

Security Implications of Data Collection
Security experts who spoke to Ukeraa warned of the significant risks associated with the collection of such data. Combining BTS tower locations, GIS databases, and mobile user information could allow for tracking personal movements, location history, and even identifying previous phone numbers and photos uploaded during SIM registration. For Nepal Telecom’s internet and landline customers, this data may also include images of their homes and photo IDs.

The CIA Connection
Despite its claim to focus on education and social development, The Asia Foundation has long been linked to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Established in 1954 as a private NGO, it is allegedly supported by the CIA to advance American interests in Asian countries. The Foundation's role appears to align with U.S. foreign policy objectives, facilitating intellectual and cultural initiatives.

Manipulation of Royalty Distribution Policy
The Asia Foundation’s report proposed distributing radio frequency royalties based on factors such as BTS tower numbers, area size, population, and mobile subscribers. However, the Finance Commission modified these recommendations, adjusting the weightings to focus more on BTS tower numbers and area size.

Royalty Distribution Controversy
During a March 3, 2023, program organized by the Society of Economic Journalists Nepal (SEJON), Finance Commission member Gurung claimed that the Commission had recommended distributing telecom frequency royalties to provincial and local governments. However, this distribution has not yet occurred due to ambiguity in the legislation. According to Mahesh Baral, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, the current laws do not categorize frequency royalties as part of natural resources, further complicating the distribution process.

The total value of radio frequency royalties is estimated to be around 6 billion rupees, nearly equivalent to the combined total distributed to all levels of government from other royalty categories.

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