NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 8- The Kenya Human Rights Commission has joined the growing list of institutions and individuals questioning the ongoing fresh SIM card registration, saying it is a serious threat to privacy rights against intrusive data harvesting.
The lobby group says already a majority of Kenyans registered their SIM cards at the point of purchase.
“The government continues to wield pervasive power to invasively collect our personal data whereas we’ve witnessed previous data breaches that led to irregular sharing of our personal data with third parties e.g many Kenyans have been irregularly registered into political parties,” the lobby group said in a Twitter thread.
According to KHRC, the government has not done enough to ensure strong safeguards for data protection.
“Majority Kenyans registered their SIM cards at the point of purchase, yet now you’re to submit new personal data or risk de-registration/hefty fines,” said the lobby group.
“Without data protection safeguards in place, Kenyans are worried that their faces and personal data risk being shared with third parties. We should not normalize the forced collection of personal data. We need secure systems that guarantee the protection of citizens’ privacy rights.”
The Communication Authority of Kenya Ezra Chiloba said the move is meant to enforce the SIM card registration regulations of 2015 amidst rising cases of cybercrime and fraud in the digital space.
Kenyans have been asked to comply with the directive before the set date elapses, as the government will not extend the registration period.
“What has been happening in the past is telecommunication operators have allowed unregistered sim cards to be used on their networks, thus we have people who are basically a threat to our security and survival of our country by abusing that space,” said Chiloba.
The Director-General said the exercise will ensure that the operators become more accountable.
“Terrorism-related activities…if you allow someone to get into our country who has no good intentions to be able to access sim cards and to be able to coordinate activities that are terror-related, that is a danger to the country. We have seen similar aspects emerging in the recent past,” he said.
Once the deadline elapses Kenyans will be unable to access services from telecommunication service providers.
Kenya is expected to join other nations in the world that have developed similar policies and collected biometric data through a registration process by telecom companies in a bid to boost cybersecurity.
“We are working with the data protection commissioner to see how we harmonize the standards around the information required for us to say that you are effectively registered,” said Chiloba.
Parents have been asked not to register their credentials in the SIM cards of their children who are above the age of 18 operate.
“This will be an upgrade of the current model in which parents use their credentials to register SIM cards their children operate,” the CA boss said.
While stating that the concerns raised by people on the process are legitimate, he urged Kenyans to “be honest whether we understand what is at stake. Ensure that by 15th April 2022 your SIM card is duly registered.”
“How do we know that you are duly registered? By dialing *106# you can know which numbers are registered in your name.”
A section of Kenyans on Twitter have also expressed their concerns over the fresh SIM card registration.
Digital Strategist Dennis Itumbi is among those saying they will not participate in the exercise.
Those who will fail to register their SIM cards by next week risk disconnection and penalties as prescribed under the law.
A person who will not have registered afresh the SIM cards by April 15 will face fines of up to Sh300,000 or serve a jail term of six months or both.
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