A House leader has cautioned the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) from setting up its database in connection with the SIM Registration Law too hastily.
Issuing this warning was Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte, majority leader of the powerful Commission on Appointments in the House of Representatives.
Villafuerte is a co-author of the SIM Registration Law, or Republic Act (RA) No.11934. The law was only signed by President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. last Oct. 10.
“Although we commend the DICT and NTC for wanting to put on the fast track the crafting of the IRR (implementing rules and regulations) for RA (Republic Act)11394, we caution their officials against rushing headlong on the mandatory registration of SIMs without first ensuring that they have, in tandem with our PTEs (public telecommunication entity), future-proofed their would-be nationwide system of collecting, storing and managing biometric data and other personal information from as many as 150 million numbers against data breaches and other security risks,” he said.
“Speed is okay...but not at the risk of having the personal data of the owners of 150 million SIM cards become prone to hacking or attacks from cybercriminals," added the veteran solon, who sits as president of the National Unity Party (NUP).
SIM stands for subscriber identity module. These allow mobile gadgets like phones to send and receive calls and text messages.
Villafuerte said that a compromised database of SIM users "would just torpedo the very purpose of RA 11394, which is to protect our people from the almost daily deluge of text scams and other -based fraud".
Villafuerte said the DICT and NTC should work closely with local PTEs Globe Telecom, PLDT-Smart, and Dito Telecommunity in crafting the law’s IRR, as well as give them the time they need to prepare for the mandatory registration and future-proofing of their systems before requiring all users to register their SIMs within the law's prescribed period.
“The DICT and NTC should be 100 percent confident that by the time our owners are given a deadline to sign up, the would-be national database of SIM data is fool-proof against attacks from devious local and foreign groups that hide behind the cloak of anonymity in perpetrating crimes with the use of celfones,” he said.
“They must bear in mind that they will be dealing here with private and sensitive data of would-be registrants that are stored in possibly as many as 150 million SIMs," the Bicolano noted.
Section 12 of RA 11934 directs the NTC to draw up, in coordination with the DICT along with other concerned agencies and groups, this law’s IRR within 60 days of its effectivity.
The SIM registration shall be accomplished via platform or website to be put up by the PTEs, which, in turn, are tasked to work with government agencies in establishing registration facilities even in faraway places with limited Internet access.
Mobile phone users shall register their SIMs within 180 days from the law’s effectivity, although the DICT is authorized to extend the registration period for another 120 days, if needed.