DAVAO CITY – A militant lawmaker expressed his concerns including possible infringement of privacy with the passage of a proposed Sim Card Registration law which is now being discussed in the Senate.
Bayan Muna partylist Congressman Karlos Zarate said the bill once enacted into law “will infringe on the subscribers constitutionally guaranteed right to privacy and will become an added burden to mobile phone users.”
“These added burden and dangers to the rights of our people are the reasons why Bayan Muna voted ‘No’ when the said bill was tackled at the House of Representatives,” said Zarate who is also a member of the House Committee on Information and Communications Technology.
“Mandatory registration for prepaid mobile phone subscribers is not the answer to terrorism, crime, or, the state of impunity that reigns in our country,” he said.
Zarate said they see “the great risk of misuse of registered user’s personal information and exchanges through this bill.”
The current set up is already subject to abuse by authorities and criminals for racketeering (like the spam texts), harassment and extortion of civilians, he said.
He also said the bill “may aggravate surveillance activities among human rights defenders and activists.”
Zarate also scored the fact that registration will be an added burden on subscribers.
“Prices of SIM cards and prepaid credit is expected to shoot up because telcos will pass the additional cost of registration to subscribers if this bill becomes law. Also, 111 million prepaid SIM card users will have to line up in the few offices of the NTC and present valid IDs to register their SIMs, and most probably have to pay for registration,” he said. (davaotoday.com)
