Sim card registration comming

[Jollygoodfellow]

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In the bill, foreign nationals visiting as tourists for not more than 30 days must present a passport, proof of address in the Philippines, and a ticket showing the date of their departure from the country.

Foreign nationals staying for more than 30 days will be required to present additional requirements, such as an alien employment permit, alien certificate of registration identification card, and a school registration and ID for students.

The registration form will be forwarded by the direct seller to the PTEs.

 

Explainer: What you need to know about the SIM registration bill

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 21)— The proposed mandatory SIM (subscriber identity modules) registration bill is nearing final approval in Congress. But how will it impact telecommunication companies and users once enacted into a law?

Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre, one of the proponents of the measure, told CNN Philippines' The Source on Wednesday the requirements and implications of the measure once passed.

Only authorized SIM card sellers allowed
Acidre said once the bill is passed, public telecommunications entities or PTEs will have to submit to the National Telecommunications Commission within 30 days a list of authorized sellers or dealers, and should submit an updated list every quarter of the year.

"Whether maliit lang na tindahan, I don't think that's going to be a problem for as long as they are authorized; 'yung nasa bangketa definitely hindi na pwede iyon kasi ang gusto nga nating ma-achieve sa bill na ito is to regulate the sale of SIM cards," he said.

[Translation: Whether it's a small store or not, I don't think that's going to be a problem for as long as they are authorized; sellers along sidewalks are definitely not authorized because what this bill wants to achieve is the regulation of the sale of SIM cards.]

Subscribers must register within 6 months
Mobile phone subscribers with prepaid SIM cards must register and verify their phone numbers with their respective PTEs 180 days from the effectivity of the measure.

An extension period of up to 120 days can be granted upon a valid written request to the Department of Information and Communications Technology.

How to register
During the registration process, users will be required to present a copy of their valid government ID containing a photo. They can also present their National Bureau of Investigation clearance, or a Philippine Statistics Authority-certified birth certificate.

SIM card sellers may refuse from selling if the presented ID is proven to be invalid.

"They (users) will be asked to fill up a form, nandoon yung information, nandoon din yung SIM card number and serial number na magiging tracker ng SIM card na nabili," Acidre explained.

[Translation: Their personal information must be in the form, as well as the SIM card and serial numbers which will serve as a tracker of the purchased SIM card.]

In the bill, foreign nationals visiting as tourists for not more than 30 days must present a passport, proof of address in the Philippines, and a ticket showing the date of their departure from the country.

Foreign nationals staying for more than 30 days will be required to present additional requirements, such as an alien employment permit, alien certificate of registration identification card, and a school registration and ID for students.

The registration form will be forwarded by the direct seller to the PTEs.

No inclusion of social media accounts
Acidre acknowledged that they cannot yet require the inclusion of social media accounts in the registration, which was part of the provision in the version of the measure that was vetoed by former president Rodrigo Duterte under the 18th Congress.

He said the current version of the measure under the 19th Congress solely focuses on SIM card registration, since there are aspects in social media registration "that could infringe on people's right to privacy which we are careful about." He also acknowledged the need to further study the matter.

The proposed SIM Registration Act was approved by the Senate on second reading on Monday, right after getting a 250-6-1 vote in the House of Representatives.

The measure, which aims to curb mobile phone and electronic communication-aided crimes from texts scams to terrorist activities, needs to undergo third reading in the Senate plenary and then transmitted to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for its final approval.

 
https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2022/9/21/SIM-registration-bill-explainer.html

[Old55]

Buy a few SIM cards now?

What's behind all this BS?

[Jollygoodfellow]

2 hours ago, Old55 said:

Buy a few SIM cards now?

What's behind all this BS?

Its to stop all the scam text sent. Been like that in Australia for over 20 years. When Duterte was in power he vetoed the bill but now looks like its going through. I think if you buy now you have to register at some point later but not sure on that.

[JJReyes]

4 hours ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Its to stop all the scam text sent.

This will work if the SIM card is traceable to a specific person.  The registration and tracking will be very expensive.  Scammers will find a way around it.

[Mike J]

My feeling are mixed.  It would be nice if this really worked to stop the scams and spam.  The problem is that you are now required by law to provide a lot of personal information into a database that is "protected" by one or more Philippine companies and/or agencies.  What could possibly go wrong?  

[BrettGC]

9 hours ago, Old55 said:

Buy a few SIM cards now?

What's behind all this BS?

Other than scams, it also makes "burners" harder to obtain anonymously which are used by criminal and terrorist organisations.  Funny thing is, a lot of the clowns that use burners, at least at the lower echelons of said organisations, don't realise their phone and calls can me tracked through the IMEI number which is hardwired to a phone; once you know  the IMEI of a phone, you can track any SIM put into it.  They should be using the phone once, ditching it, then buying an entire new phone and SIM.  How do I know this?  It was my bread and butter in the navy, it's how we tracked most of our targets in AFG etc.  

2 hours ago, JJReyes said:

This will work if the SIM card is traceable to a specific person.  The registration and tracking will be very expensive.  Scammers will find a way around it.

Yep, needs to be a lot of infrastructure in place but once setup it will be easy.   

48 minutes ago, Mike J said:

My feeling are mixed.  It would be nice if this really worked to stop the scams and spam.  The problem is that you are now required by law to provide a lot of personal information into a database that is "protected" by one or more Philippine companies and/or agencies.  What could possibly go wrong?  

We already give them a lot of information that I'm not entirely comfortable with, even down to biometrics for driver's licences and ACR cards but it is what it is.

I think you guys are on the wrong track, this is more to do with law-enforcement on an organised crime and terrorist level.  Most of those scam texts we get are from overseas anyway I suspect, mainly India but it will slow down the bulk generation of phone numbers yes.  

Edited September 21, 2022 by BrettGC

[Old55]

Thanks Tom and Brett. 

We figured to have our Niece buy SIM cards for us next visit to avoid the highly intrusive information requirements. 

[Dave Hounddriver]

1 hour ago, BrettGC said:

They should be using the phone once, ditching it, then buying an entire new phone and SIM.

 

11 hours ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Subscribers must register within 6 months

So any "bad guys" have 6 months to buy and use a burner phone/burner sim before any registration is required.  I am quite convinced that scammers and other criminals will have replaced their sim in that time so the only ones this will inconvenience are the law abiding users.  Typical.

[BrettGC]

1 minute ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

 

So any "bad guys" have 6 months to buy and use a burner phone/burner sim before any registration is required.  I am quite convinced that scammers and other criminals will have replaced their sim in that time so the only ones this will inconvenience are the law abiding users.  Typical.

But after that 6 months they're going to be in theory, harder to obtain anonymously.  Great theory, and the intent of the bill but we'll see how enforcement goes.... 

[Kingpin]

42 minutes ago, BrettGC said:

But after that 6 months they're going to be in theory, harder to obtain anonymously.

Until the entirely new market of third-party anonymous SIM sellers starts.