The House of Representatives has recently approved a measure requiring the registration of all users of subscriber identity module (SIM) cards.
Voting through viva voce, lawmakers passed on second reading House Bill 7233 on Wednesday to help law-enforcement agencies in tracking down lawless criminals who use mobile phones with postpaid and prepaid SIM cards to pursue nefarious activities, such as kidnapping for ransom and petty crimes like theft. The lower chamber is expected to approve the bill on third and final reading when session resumes in May.
The bill seeks to establish a system of sale and registration of SIM cards for all users of SIM cards by registering essential data in a registration form set up for the purpose.
It also provides for the mandatory registration of end users who are foreign nationals.
The measure mandates all public telecommunication entities (PTEs) and direct sellers of SIM cards to establish a register and submit the same to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
The bill, however, provides for a confidentiality clause that prohibits disclosure of any information of a subscriber, unless upon subpoena of lawful order from a court, or written request from a law-enforcement agency in relation to an ongoing investigation, stating that a particular number requested was used in the commission of a crime.
It mandates all PTEs to maintain a SIM-card register of their subscribers and to submit the same to the DICT every six months. All PTEs are required to keep the data of their subscribers and the DICT shall ensure that these data are being kept with utmost confidentiality.
The measure also mandates the registration of existing prepaid SIM card phone subscribers, the failure to comply therewith, within the prescribed period shall authorize the PTEs to automatically deactivate its services to specific existing prepaid SIM-card subscriber.
Violators of the act, if committed by a PTE, shall face a fine of P300,000 for first offense; P500,000 for second offense; and P1 million for third and subsequent offenses.
If committed by a direct seller, a penalty of suspension of operation and a fine ranging from P5,000 to P50,000 shall be imposed.
Opposed
Party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani T. Zarate of Bayan Muna, as expected, opposed the SIM-card registration proposal, saying that it is poised to infringe on the privacy of subscribers and will become an additional burden to mobile-phone users.
“Mandatory registration for prepaid mobile-phone subscribers is not the answer to terrorism, crime or the impunity that persists in our country. Contrarily, we at Bayan Muna see the great risk of misuse of registered user’s personal information and exchanges as being proposed today by some legislators,” Zarate said.
“The current set up is already subject to abuse by authorities and criminals for racketeering [like the spam texts], harassment and extortion of civilians. There are already many reports of surveillance, threat and harassment of activists through their mobile phones,” he added
Zarate said the proposal could easily extend to all online activities with the aid of the Cybercrime Law.
“Real-time collection of data is unconstitutional, as it blatantly violates the right to privacy. However, for the intention of the SIM- card registration proposal to deter crime to be effective, it must have access to all mobile-phone exchanges as it happens. There would be a virtual Big Brother trafficking all our mobile-phone exchanges,” he added.
Zarate also said the burden of registration will be on subscribers.
“Prices of SIM cards and prepaid credit are also expected to shoot up because telcos will pass the additional cost of registration to subscribers if this proposal becomes law. Also, the almost 100 million prepaid SIM-card users will have to line up in the few offices of the NTC [National Telecommunications Commission]and present valid IDs to register their SIMs, and most probably have to pay for registration,” the lawmaker said.
He said the NTC has only one office per region, numbering to only 15 nationwide, saying “SIM-card registration would face administrative challenges as 90 percent of all SIM- cards in the country are prepaid.”
“This is an administrative nightmare for the government to make sure that the almost 100 million prepaid subscribers’ data are safe. This is not an expense that the government should prioritize,” Zarate said.