Nilagdaan na ng Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ang Republic Act 11934 o ang SIM Registration Act na imandato na ang pagpaparehistro ng mga ginagamit na Subscriber Identity Module o SIM cards.
Nitong Lunes isinagawa ni Marcos ang ceremonial signing sa naturang batas na ginanap sa Ceremonial Hall ng Malacañang, at sinaksihan ng ilang opisyal ng pamahalaan.
Layunin ng batas na mapigilan ang paggamit ng mga SIM card sa krimen, kabilang na sa text at online scams.
“We will soon be able to provide law enforcement agencies with the tools needed to resolve crimes perpetrated with the use of these SIM cards, as well as providing a strong deterrence against the commission of wrongdoing,” saad ni Marcos sa kaniyang talumpati nang pirmahan ang naturang batas.
“Crucially as well, included in this crucial piece of legislation are provisions that make paramount the protection of confidentiality and data privacy rights of subscribers, which shall begin to take effect at the point of sale,” dagdag niya.
Ayon pa sa Pangulo, tinitiyak niya na ang anumang impormasyon na kakailanganin sa pagpaparehistro ng SIM card ay “absolutely confidential, unless access to this information has been granted by the written consent of the subscriber.”
“These public telecommunication entities (PTEs) shall only be required to disclose information contained in the SIM card, upon a duly issued subpoena or order of a court upon finding of probable cause,” dagdag pa ng Pangulo.
“They can likewise be compelled to do so upon written request from a law enforcement agency in relation to an ongoing investigation, that a particular number is used in the commission of a crime or that it was used as a means to commit an unlawful act,” sabi pa niya.
Sa ilalim ng batas, itinatakda sa mga public telecommunication entities na magsumite sa National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) ng verified list ng kanilang authorized dealers and agents sa buong bansa. Kailangan nilang isumite ang listahan tuwing ikatlong bahagi ng taon.
Kung hindi ipaparehistro ng gumagamit ang SIM card sa itinakdang panahon, awtomatikong papatayin ng PTE ang koneksyon nito at hindi na magagamit.
May mga nakalaang parusa sa lalabag sa confidentiality ng impormasyon ng mga magpaparehistro ng SIM card, magbibigay ng maling impormasyon, magnanakaw at magbebenta ng nakarehistrong SIM card, ipagagamit sa iba ang SIM nang hindi sumusunod sa itinatakda ng batas, at iba pa.
Ayon naman kay Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Ivan John Uy, itatakda ng National Telecommunications Commission kung kailan magsisimula ang proseso ng pagpaparehistro ng SIM card.
“I think the prescribed time has to be set by NTC and with the consultation with the telcos kasi they have to prepare the systems, they have to prepare their people in order to do this,” sabi ni Uy.
“I think madali na, maraming process… for instance, one way I’m thinking of approaching it is lahat tayo may cellphone na eh. So the telcos will just send you a notice na please go to this site and validate, put in your validation na kayo ‘yun and then take a picture of your ID and then upload it and then they can verify whether that’s correct or not,” dagdag niya.
Sinabi ni Uy na kailangan din linisin ng telco ang listahan nila ng mga prepaid card users.
“’Yung mga telcos nakakaalam noon eh kasi maraming mga claims and ang iba diyan kasi lalo na kung prepaid, ‘pag gamit tapon so sa sistema nila nandoon pero di na ginagamit so I think they need to revalidate all of that,” ayon pa kay Uy.