As early as 2015, the Senate has already proposed a measure that will require all prepaid SIM card subscribers to register their numbers with their service providers for easy tracking in cases of crimes committed through mobile communications.

Filed by Senator Loren Legarda, the Subscriber 2 Identity Module (SIM) Card Registration Act aims to make users accountable for their usage of mobile communications by mandating SIM card registration and giving direct sellers the responsibility of selling prepaid SIM cards only to users, who are able to submit a valid identification with photo.

Similarly, a bill has been proposed in the House of Representatives the following year, and after three years is still pending approval. But a recent report by Inquirer.net said that the House is poised to consider it in its new form and with possibly intrusive consequences.

According to the latest We Are Social digital report, approximately 89% of the 105 million population of the country has a mobile phone. But there are 121.4 million mobile connections in the Philippines, meaning the existing number of sim cards in use outnumber the actual number of people. Photo courtesy of Mark Alvic Esplana/Inquirer

All it would take for law enforcers is a written request, a subpoena or a court order to access the user’s SIM card alleged to have been used to commit a crime.

However, according to the same report by Inquirer.net, any information from the SIM card shall be treated as “absolutely confidential” unless otherwise stated by the user.

A previous version of the bill has been passed by the House on third reading in May 2018, while just last December, the House information and communications technology panel endorsed the bill for plenary consideration. Its counterpart in the Senate has yet to pass the committee level.

Under the proposed SIM Card Registration Act, new and existing prepaid card users are required to register their SIM cards with a Public Telecommunication Entity (PTE) by presenting a valid ID in the form of a passport, driver’s license, senior citizen card, and other government-issued cards with photo.

Header photo courtesy of Tracy Le Blanc from Pexels

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