A new bill sponsored in Parliament to regulate internet and social media access
A new bill sponsored in Parliament to regulate internet and social media access
Internet users will be assigned a unique, identifiable meter number if the proposed Kenya Information and Communications (Amendment) Bill, 2025, sponsored by Aldai MP Marianne Kitany, is passed by Parliament.
The bill proposes that internet service providers (ISPs) operate a meter billing system that will assign each customer a unique meter number.
The system will also monitor customer usage, convert the usage into readable details, and create invoices based on internet consumption.
“Section 27A of the principal Act is amended by inserting the following new subsections immediately after subsection (3B)— (3C) An internet service provider shall operate a meter billing system which shall —(a) assign to each customer a unique and identifiable meter number;(b) monitor customer usage;(c) convert customer usage into readable details; (d) create invoices based on consumption; and (e) allow for user verification of invoices,” the bill reads in part.
According to the bill, ISPs will be required to submit data from their billing systems to the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) at least once every financial year.
“An internet service provider licensed under this Act shall submit to the Authority, at least once in every financial year, information on the billing system, including internet meter numbers issued to subscribers,” the bill stated.
The new bill also proposes that telecommunications operators obtain names, identity card numbers, dates of birth, gender, and physical addresses when selling SIM cards.
Before a telecommunications operator sells a SIM-card or otherwise provides telecommunication services to a person, it shall obtain from natural persons, the person’s full name, identity card number, date of birth, gender, physical and postal address,” the bill states.
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The bill notes that the information will be kept properly physically or electronically, and the information shall not be disclosed without the written consent of the subscriber.
Telecommunications operators who contravene the provisions will be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding five million shillings.
However, a section of Kenyans has raised concerns about the proposed bill, warning that internet and SIM-card users in Kenya could be subjected to sweeping surveillance through advanced software tools capable of spying on and hacking into personal online accounts.
Critics argue that ISPs and telecommunications operators selling SIM cards would be required to install surveillance tools, including signature-creation devices comparable to facial recognition modules, to monitor customer activity, with the data accessible to the State at will.
Speaking to an IT specialist and CEO of Yada Innovations, Talmon Mwakesi noted that such a move could be used to track activities unless masked with a VPN.
“Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) can already track your online activity unless you’re actively masking it using tools like a VPN, a privacy-focused browser, or other anonymizing methods. Without such protections, your activities are visible to your ISP. Introducing a unique meter number could further narrow down and link specific activities to individual users, especially those who may not have the technical knowledge to safeguard their privacy,” Mr. Mwakesi told this journalist.
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