SIM REGISTRATION | DICT defends selfie requirement in SIM card registration amid mounting opposition

January 11, 2023 , 10:02 PM

By Clarist Zablan

(January 11, 2023) – The Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) on Wednesday defended its requirement for mobile phone users to submit selfies in the SIM card registration, as data privacy advocates pushed back raising it as a violation of privacy rights.

Undersecretary Anna Marie Yu Lamentillo, the spokeswoman of the department, said the selfie verification is still necessary to deter spoofing and confirm that the subscribers are registering the SIM cards using their own real information.

“Huwag po kayong mag-alala, kasi ginagawa po namin ito (selfie requirement) para sa inyong kabutihan,” Lamentillo said in a briefing aired on state-owned PTV.

“Ang ginagawa po kasi doon sa selfie verification system, kailangang tugma ‘yung mukha ng nasa ID at ‘yung nagreregister, dahil ayaw po nating gamitin yung spoofing, which is also a crime under the SIM registration law.”

Earlier, the Junk SIM Registration Network staged a protest in front of the National Telecommunications Office (NTC) demanding for the suspension of the SIM registration law, which they said saw “glaring violations to data privacy” in its implementation.

Maded Batara III, spokesperson for the Junk SIM Registration Network, also said the requirement to submit selfies for verification went beyond what was required by law.

“We reject the use of selfies as a verification requirement and call on the NTC and telcos (telecommunication companies) to delete any such data that has been collected from unwitting consumers,” Batara said in a press release.

Around 17.1 million SIM cards have been registered since the mandatory registration started on December 27, based on the DICT’s data as of Tuesday. This made up a tenth of the estimated number of SIM cards used nationwide.

Proponents of the law in the Congress believed a mandatory registration of SIM cards will help deter the proliferation of spam messages and SMS-based phishing scams, the latter which involves duping victims into revealing sensitive information to attackers.

But data privacy experts and advocates have raised concerns that requiring subscribers to disclose their personal information would not be able to solve the problem and might potentially make them more vulnerable to data breaches.

Authorities have assured the public there are safeguards in place in the law to ensure the data privacy of Filipinos.

Lamentillo also said that telcos are working to improve the registration process to make it smoother for subscribers.

“Our aim is to register at least one million SIMs every day. Currently, we are on track, but there could be a lull, and then a surge again once we are near the deadline,” she told reporters.

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