The National Communication Authority has assured the public that Telecommunication networks will not violate the privacy of its customers in the ongoing SIM card registration exercise.
According to the Deputy Director, Consumer and Corporate Affairs, at the National Communications Authority (NCA), Mr. Kwame Gyan, the re-registration exercise has become necessary to curb instances of impersonation and other cyber-related crimes in the country.
The nationwide SIM card re-registration is an initiative by the Ministry of Communication and digitization which forms part of the government’s effort to find lasting solutions to the menace of SIM-related fraud while sanitizing the communication ecosystem.
In the wake of this development, however, some Ghanaians have raised concerns about the safety of their data following the announcement by the NCA requesting all persons to provide their details as part of the SIM registration process.
Speaking in an interview with ATL FM Thursday, Mr. Gyan assured Ghanaians that, Telcos will only validate their information against the database of the NIA and not store anyone’s personal information as speculated.
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“I think it’s important that we make this point clear. The biodata that we decide to go through for verification is not stored by your Telcos. All that they do is to verify it against the database of NIA.”
He said the previous registration of SIM cards had some challenges and one of the challenges was that it could not show whether the details obtained reflected the actual details of SIMs users.
Another challenge is that because those selling the SIM cards made profits from how many they can sell, I can possibly go and register legitimately my ID card and then they could use my details to register for other people.” He added.
Mr. Gyan said the initiative will help the ministry of communication in their resolve to minimize criminal activities and also create a structure for the country’s digital economy.
Farouk Adam & Rosemary Lebene Sabakpo/ATLFMNEWS
