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‘SIM card registration is a must’
Tuesday, 19 April 2011 19:57
(Today Online) - President Jammeh has warned that any GSM company which may not yet be compliant with an executive order to register all
new Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards on its network by April 15 (last Friday) risks losing its license.The Gambian leader, who was speaking during a televised meeting with Cabinet ministers, security chiefs and some other heads of government agencies in the country, said the instruction that all SIM cards in the country be registered is mandatory because it is vital to preserving the country’s security. He urged that the order should therefore be respected by all parties concerned.
While the Gambian leader’s April 15 ultimatum seems to be referring specifically to the sales of new SIM cards, the instruction also expects the GSM companies to continue making efforts to register the details of all other existing and active users of their networks.
Indeed, the companies have, since several weeks, been sending text messages to customers asking for their family names, names and full address. Customers are normally expected to furnish these details in reply to a special number designated by the various networks.
However, some managers of some of the GSM companies told TODAY that customers have not been very forthcoming with these details. “People are normally and naturally reluctant to disclose their personal information, so I think it’s entirely understandable,” said one senior staff of one of the GSM companies, who did not want to be named because he wasn’t speaking in an official capacity.
“But I believe that once the President has made it clear on the national television that this is a government order, people will start cooperating better,” he said.
With the order to register all active SIMs in the country, The Gambia joins other countries across the continent to have taken the same step.
Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and a number other countries have also given instructions that all SIMs be registered in a database.
SIM card registration is also mandatory in other countries such as Italy, China, the United States, Great Britain and the Netherlands.
In all these countries, like The Gambia, it is believed that this step may help curb crime, especially those perpetrated through the use of mobile phones such as kidnappings where criminal gangs make extensive use of the mobile phone in negotiating and getting paid ransom money.
Mobile phones are increasingly being employed in the execution of a number of other major crimes that are often difficult and expensive to unravel.
However, in these other countries, it does seem that the task of SIM card registration is made easier for the GSM companies as the respective governments allow the GSM companies to deactivate the SIM cards of mobile phone users who fail to register theirs by a deadline.
There is also often a coordinated campaign in these countries, both on the level of the GSM operators and the regulatory authorities, to inform and sensitise the entire population on the need to comply by the instructions. These steps have not been taken here yet.
The Gambian effort also seems to be less intrusive in the amount of information it is requiring. While the request here has been for names, family names and full address; the demand in a few other countries often include full names, physical and postal address, date of birth and physical and alternative contacts. Some countries even require an identification document before SIM cards are sold.
The SIM card registration is expected to capture personal details of the existing hundreds of thousands of subscribers in the country.
INFORMATION CONFIDENTIAL
However, some customers say while they have no problems with the directive to register their SIMs, they are nevertheless worried that not much has been made clear about the preparation and capability of the GSM operators to properly set up and maintain databases in such a way as would ensure that all the personal information acquired through this exercise are held in confidence.
They also believe it would be more appropriate and confidence-inspiring if there was a legislative backing that says what and what not the government and GSM operators could do with the collected information.
“There is no doubt that there are challenges attached to the growth and use of technology including the mobile phone,” says an information technology expert who is also a mobile phone user.
“And there is no doubt that the government has every right to want to keep a tab on these challenges. However, appropriate and adequate legislation in this regard is sine qua non. If GSM companies can go ahead and collect customer information before there is a law that clearly defines what and what not could be done with these information, I think we will all be left exposed in some ways. I am convinced that the idea is okay, but I’m afraid we may be putting the cart before the horse here,” said the IT expert who preferred not to be named.
He also said it would be vital to ensure the security of the databases so as to preserve the integrity and authenticity of the information collected.
“Operators may also need more time and a legislative framework that will support the implementation of the SIM card registration process.
"The process is complex and will require consumer education before all the subscribers buy the idea, so we might need a little more time here as well as a legal framework that brings us up to speed in this direction".
However, many others doubt that the GSM operators would want to commit any significant amount of resources in educating consumers to register their SIMs.
“I don’t see them wanting to do that with any serious commitment. It’s not a new product and they won’t be making any new money from it, so the task of educating the people to register their SIMs may have to fall on the regulatory authority.”
THE SIM CARDS
The Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card contains a unique serial number, internationally unique number of the mobile user (IMSI), security authentication and ciphering information, temporary information related to the local network, a list of the services the user has access to and two passwords (PIN for usual use and PUK for unlocking).
The SIM card allows users to change phones by simply removing the SIM card from one mobile phone and inserting it into another mobile phone or broadband telephony device.
SIM cards are available in three standard sizes. The first is of the size of a credit card (85.60mm × 53.98mm x 0.76 mm).
The newer, most popular miniature version has the same thickness, but has a length of 25mm and a width of 15mm, and has one of its corners truncated (chamfered) to prevent mis-insertion.
The newest incarnation known as the 3FF or micro-SIM has dimensions of 15mm × 12mm. Most cards of the two smaller sizes are supplied as a full-sized card with the smaller card held in place by a few plastic links; it can easily be broken off to be used in a device that uses the smaller SIM.
The first SIM card was made in 1991 by Munich smart card maker Giesecke & Devrient, which sold the first 300 SIM cards to Finnish wireless network operator Radiolinja.
A database of a country's mobile phone users, which include their names, contact numbers and other personal details, is believed could be an effective tool to solve crimes as well as prevent it by making it an unfashionable tool for criminals.
THE FLIPSIDE
Registering SIM cards however implies some formalisation of its sale which also means that the hundreds of street hawkers engaged in the informal sales of SIM cards will suffer loss of income and possibly some deterioration in the quality of their livelihoods.
In addition, some experts also doubt the efficacy of SIM registration as a tool to reduce crime, claiming that there are no empirical evidence to support such assertions. They believe SIM registration rather infringes on users’ privacy and may expose them to the undue prying eyes of governments and powerful commercial interests that may have the wherewithal to obtains such information.
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Comments
- LEP LUUYENGU, LIKOHENGAL MOOKO UPPA DOOLEH (wollof)!!!
should read
- LEP LUUYENGU, LIKOYENGAL MOOKO UPPA DOOLEH (wollof)!!!
Comment
Guys you all spotted it Wright. It’s a ploy to control, manipulate & continued-enslavement of Gambians & friends for selfish gains; why is so-called “security of state” in Gambia today all about yaya jammeh? Why CAN’T yaya tell us what happened to Chief Manneh, who killed Dida Hydara, etc, etc, if he were ANYTHING but serious, about state security which’s NOT detachable from the commons’ security?? & what made him believe we will coil & surrender??? LEP LUUYENGU, LIKOHENGAL MOOKO UPPA DOOLEH (wollof)!!!
Those who go go back to Gambia with their fiancës or girlfriends to get married are being routinely finger printed by the police when they go to obatain a copy of good character certificate and i have personally witnessed my passport (German) being scanned while i was checking in to fly back to Germany two months ago. The lady who did this acted like she was just looking closer at my passport but i saw her waving some sort of digital scanner over my document.
I just do not understand this regime's paranoia over SECURITY! Do they think they will remain FOREVER in power?
Norway security is not SPYING, taping, intercepting international calls thereby arresting people or imprisoning or abducting norwegians simply because they heard them saying Jens Stoltenberg is THIEF AND A DICTATOR. The Objective is to spy on Gambians and silence them as he did for 17 years.
IF A FOX WANT TO BE A SECURITY GUARD AT A HENS HOUSE, IT’S A FOOL THAT WILL SAY IT ABOUT SECURITY. FATTA DU DET MIN LILLA VAN OCH GAMBIA AR INTE NORGE for helvete. fatta du det?
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