Government rolling out tracking system for mobile phones
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Government through the Communication Authority (CA) announces plans to go ahead with the installation of a tracking system for mobile phones
Government through the Communication Authority (CA) announces plans to go ahead with the installation of a tracking system for mobile phones
Speaking on Friday in parliament, ICT Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo said CA had received a nod from the Supreme Court on April 2023 to go ahead with the plan to install a Device Management System (DMS) which can monitor the activities of mobile phone subscribers, but it delayed the rollout.
Mr. Owalo assured legislators that the State would not infringe on the privacy of Kenyans through the DMS system.
He clarified that the tracking software will only be used to stop the growing theft of mobile phones and the distribution of fake mobile devices.
According to the CS, the surge of non-type-approved and poor counterfeit mobile phones in the nation made State surveillance of them necessary.
“CA has set out to develop an effective technological solution to control the threat through the deployment of a system to automatically detect and disable end-user equipment that does not meet set criteria,” Owalo explained how the software would work.
Owalo was optimistic that with the rollout of DMS, his Ministry would bring to an end SIM Boxing fraud.
A SIM Box scam is a commonly used technique by fraudsters in Kenya to divert international calls to a mobile phone through the internet.
Using the SIM box device, the scammers route the connection back into the network as local calls, which is made possible by fraudulently obtained and often unregistered SIM cards.
With DMS, the ICT Ministry remarks that it will no longer be possible to terminate or receive international calls from the Internet and feed them to the country’s mobile network subscribers disguised as local telephone traffic.
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Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah, on Sunday, however, reiterated DMS was inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution as it was a threat to the subscribers’ right to Privacy.
Owalo, however, defended the decision, stressing that it will be strictly implemented in accordance with the nation’s laws, including the Constitution.
To guarantee the plan’s successful implementation, CA will also collaborate with the Kenya Bureau of Standards, the Mobile Network Operators, the National Police Service, the Kenya Trade Network Agency, and the Anti Counterfeit Agency.
Earlier, the regulator denied reports that DMS can be used to access phone records, location, and mobile money transactions.
When DMS was first introduced in 2016, a number of legal disputes prevented it from being put into practice until the Supreme Court approved it.
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