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thecitizen.co.tz
Dar es Saalam. Tanzania has the most invasive SIM-Card registration laws among the more than 150 countries in the world that require registation of the vital communication tool, according to UK-based technology firm, Comparitech.
The country ranked top in Comparitech’s study on governments that impose SIM-card registration laws to allegedly collect data on their citizens. Tanzania scored 19 points out of possible 21 points to top the list followed closely by Saudi Arabia with 17 points while Uganda and North Korea came third, both with 15 points.
The other countries to complete the list of 15 top countries in the world said to have the worst SIM-card registration polices are Lebanon, Pakistan, Singapore and Sri Lanka each scoring 14 points and Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, Myanmar, Nigeria, Tajikistan and United Arab Emirates which all scored 13 points.
The report by Comparitech was published online on Thursday this week and studied the legal regimes of countries with the most invasive registration provisions.
According to the report, the factors to determine the ranking included if biometrics are required in the registration process, whether the data is stored by providers or shared with government agencies, what is (or is not) required for law enforcement to gain access to this data, for how long the data is stored, and whether any data privacy legislation protects this information.
Tanzania only managed to scrape back two points due to citizens being allowed a sim card per provider, if they so wished, and law enforcement not having invasive interception tools (although they can access data without a warrant).
Tanzania’s other notable features were that subscribers’ information is submitted to the relevant authority (TCRA) once a month and registration includes fingerprints (Ongoing).The UK company said the data so collected isn’t protected with storage limitations and that with no data protection law in place, subscribers’ information was left open to various vulnerabilities. Furthermore, those who don’t comply with the registration law may find themselves being fined Sh7 million and/or spending more than two years in prison.
Efforts to reach Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) for comment weren’t successful by the time of iling this report. TCRA communication manager Semu Mwakianjala asked The Citizen to send him an email over the matter but which until we went to the press had not been replied to.
Tanzania is currently rolling out a mandatory biometric registration of all SIM-card holders in the country, with President John Magufuli extending the December 31 deadline to switch off unregistered SIM-cards to January 20, 2020.
The safety and privacy of mobile phone subscrbers came into sharp focus recently when apparent conversations among senior politicians was leaked out. The authenticity of the leaked conversations was given credence by the Head of State when he said he had forgiven former ministers January Makamba, Nape Nnauye and William Ngeleja whose voice dialogues were apparently hacked or shared out without their knowledge.
Former CCM supremos Abdulrahman Kinana and Yusuf Makamba were also involved.
tion.
capture and validation system, its lengthy storage retention laws where data collected can be retained for at least 5 years after a contract for use of the card is terminated. Uganda scored 15 points, ranking the worst country with poor registration policies.
Kenya and Rwanda were ranked favourably and are not among the top 15 countries with poor sim-card registration policies.
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Dar es Saalam. Tanzania has the most invasive SIM-Card registration laws among the more than 150 countries in the world that require registation of the vital communication tool, according to UK-based technology firm, Comparitech.
The country ranked top in Comparitech’s study on governments that impose SIM-card registration laws to allegedly collect data on their citizens. Tanzania scored 19 points out of possible 21 points to top the list followed closely by Saudi Arabia with 17 points while Uganda and North Korea came third, both with 15 points.
The other countries to complete the list of 15 top countries in the world said to have the worst SIM-card registration polices are Lebanon, Pakistan, Singapore and Sri Lanka each scoring 14 points and Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, Myanmar, Nigeria, Tajikistan and United Arab Emirates which all scored 13 points.
The report by Comparitech was published online on Thursday this week and studied the legal regimes of countries with the most invasive registration provisions.
According to the report, the factors to determine the ranking included if biometrics are required in the registration process, whether the data is stored by providers or shared with government agencies, what is (or is not) required for law enforcement to gain access to this data, for how long the data is stored, and whether any data privacy legislation protects this information.
Tanzania only managed to scrape back two points due to citizens being allowed a sim card per provider, if they so wished, and law enforcement not having invasive interception tools (although they can access data without a warrant).
Tanzania’s other notable features were that subscribers’ information is submitted to the relevant authority (TCRA) once a month and registration includes fingerprints (Ongoing).The UK company said the data so collected isn’t protected with storage limitations and that with no data protection law in place, subscribers’ information was left open to various vulnerabilities. Furthermore, those who don’t comply with the registration law may find themselves being fined Sh7 million and/or spending more than two years in prison.
Efforts to reach Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) for comment weren’t successful by the time of iling this report. TCRA communication manager Semu Mwakianjala asked The Citizen to send him an email over the matter but which until we went to the press had not been replied to.
Tanzania is currently rolling out a mandatory biometric registration of all SIM-card holders in the country, with President John Magufuli extending the December 31 deadline to switch off unregistered SIM-cards to January 20, 2020.
The safety and privacy of mobile phone subscrbers came into sharp focus recently when apparent conversations among senior politicians was leaked out. The authenticity of the leaked conversations was given credence by the Head of State when he said he had forgiven former ministers January Makamba, Nape Nnauye and William Ngeleja whose voice dialogues were apparently hacked or shared out without their knowledge.
Former CCM supremos Abdulrahman Kinana and Yusuf Makamba were also involved.
tion.
capture and validation system, its lengthy storage retention laws where data collected can be retained for at least 5 years after a contract for use of the card is terminated. Uganda scored 15 points, ranking the worst country with poor registration policies.
Kenya and Rwanda were ranked favourably and are not among the top 15 countries with poor sim-card registration policies.
Sent using Jamii Forums mobile app
