SIM card registration as anti-crime tool?

[cliff_drew]

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Do you agree on this proposal? Any thoughts?

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MANILA, Philippines, Jan. 27 (PNA) – Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) Chairman Ivan John E. Uy said on Thursday the government is studying the compulsory registration of the subscriber identification module (SIM) cards of cellular phone users nationwide for security concerns.

According to him, SIM card registration is mandatory in other countries such as Italy, China, the United States, Great Britain and the Netherlands.

It is not an easy thing to do because of the costs involved, but definitely, that’s one of the areas the Aquino administration is looking at because the replacement of SIM cards by some people on their cellular phones is being abused, Uy said during the "Talking Points" radio program aired Thursday over DZRB Radyo ng Bayan of the Philippine Broadcasting Service (PBS).

The radio program, hosted by broadcast journalists Allan Allanigue and Grace Simando, is organized by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) in cooperation with the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), National Broadcasting Network (NBN)-Channel 4 and PBS.

“The non-registration of SIM cards is causing a lot of problems to a lot of people. It’s allegedly used by criminal elements in their illegal activities,” Uy said.

Uy, a known cyber law expert who has distinguished himself in the academe as professorial lecturer of various universities, said the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and telecom companies (telcos) are already discussing the proposal.

A SIM card contains its 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 the country’s over 80 million mobile phone users, which include their names, contact numbers and other personal details, can be an effective tool to prevent terror attacks like Tuesday’s bombing in Makati City, Uy said.

If the mandate for the registration SIM cards is approved, Uy said it could help law enforcers prevent bombings or other forms of terror attacks.

The NTC originally proposed SIM registration in the year 2000, when the country only had two million cellular phone subscribers. This was meant as a deterrent to mobile phone theft and other crimes using mobile phones.

Source: Gov't mulls SIM card registration, says CICT chief | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online

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Group says SIM card registration won't deter criminals

Requiring owners of prepaid mobile phones to register their subscriber identity modules (SIM) cards may not necessarily be a deterrent to crime, a militant consumer group said.

TXTPower said that while registration is attractive in theory, it may not go beyond providing "false hopes" of curbing crime as criminals will find a way to defeat it.

"In theory, SIM card registration is attractive and seems to be a good option. But, upon closer study, it is not a smart thing to do. Criminals always want to be steps ahead and we predict they could easily go around the system through the use of lost, fake and stolen IDs to register SIM cards, like what they have done in many countries where authorities also gave their citizens false hopes," the group said in a statement posted on its website.

"Are the proponents expecting criminals and terrorists to use their own IDs to register SIM cards for use in nefarious activities? Now that Congress is again contemplating about it, these law breakers are already planning alternative ways to communicate and to trigger their bombs. We need our lawmakers and law enforcers to be smarter than how they have so far shown," it added.

Earlier this week, Sen. Vicente Sotto III pushed for the mandatory registration of SIM cards in the wake of the bombing of a bus in Makati City, where the bomb used a cell phone as a triggering device. Five people were killed in the incident.

Proponents of the registration also said registering SIM cards will help authorities pinpoint criminals if the cards are used in crimes.

President Benigno Aquino III, however, has expressed apprehension over the proposal, noting privacy concerns.

"[The proposal] needs a little bit of study," Aquino told reporters after attending the 400th anniversary of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila last Wednesday. "There should be a middle ground where the need for security and the constitutional right of privacy can both be respected and addressed."

Identity theft

In addition, TXTPower said that in countries where SIM card registration is mandatory such as in Africa, authorities have reported a spate of cases of identity theft, and the use of stolen or lost IDs by criminal elements to cheat the system.

"Based on the bills filed in the House and the Senate, the SIM card registration could only work if all the available and operational SIM cards are registered, with absolutely no exceptions or exemptions. This seems impossible to accomplish considering the sheer number of SIM cards that are now used locally by citizens and internationally by our OFWs and expats," TXTPower said.

It said one single unregistered or falsely registered SIM card will ruin a system that would purportedly identify criminals and terrorists.

The group proposed instead that the funds for SIM card registration go instead to building a state-of-the-art criminal forensics laboratory, and the hiring and training of competent forensics experts and crime investigators.

"Authorities must improve and intensify their intelligence work, shake off and punish scalawags who are in cahoots with criminals, and solve crimes, big and small, to improve the peace and order situation and thereafter restore public confidence in the police," said the group.

TXTPower had opposed mandatory SIM card registration since it was first proposed in the House of Representatives.

Source: Group says SIM card registration won't deter criminals - Nation - GMANews.TV - Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs - Latest Philippine News

[DeathFox]

Butola pud aning Ivan John Uy. Mugamit ba gud ug kaugalingong ID para maka.register sa SIM ng criminal? Common sense ra baya na.

Bali pud ning mga gipang.appoint ni Nonoy, puro abnoy pareha niya.

[Ekoydakoykoy]

great idea but i can imagine the up coming debate against this proposal

[jorjie]

Hm..... something fishy

[Lord_Ac]

I totally support this idea. Japan and Korea already have this and it seems to be working for them.

[cliff_drew]

I totally support this idea. Japan and Korea already have this and it seems to be working for them.

Do you have any report of success rate on these countries?

[mr.twin]

dapat e register gyd na ang sim card using driver license,sss id or gsis id or voters id.. sa middle east e register man gyod ang sim card using residence card.

[SmaRkieS]

wa effect ni sa ato, mag lisud na sila ug implement asa ka ana ang SIM tag P10 nalang.

saon taman ning pinoy tihik man kaayo hilig man ug affordable.

naka bantay ba mo nga halos tanan gi pang sachet na? unsay sunod gasolina e sachet na?

dugay naman dyud na sa gawas ang SIM naka register.

sa una bitaw wa pay uso ang SIM kay kilangan dyud nga registered ka, CDMA technology pa dyud to, ma secure pa.

kung ni stick palang ta sa CDMA technology mas faster pa siguro ang transfer rate sa DATA minus the roaming lang.

[sizzlingROBOT]

If imo SIM card makawat and magamit cya by Terrorist to trigger an explosive device, basi ma.apil na hinuon ta ani? Otherwise, ato i.report dayun na nawala ato SIM card.

This is a good idea but it needs to be improved.

[dismarked]

... also ni the Middle East Country. pangayo-an paka og photocopy sa imo passport before ka makapalit sim card.