PNP supports SIM Card Registration Act, sees no breach in privacy

The Philippine National Police on Monday expressed support for the SIM Card Registration Act as the measure would aid in tracking criminals during an investigation and was not a breach of privacy.

“We have seen how the criminal elements maximized the anonymity of pre-paid SIM cards, thus it was easy for them to constantly change SIM cards for communication and transaction without being identified,” PNP Chief General Dionardo Carlos said in a statement.

Carlos added that, with the measure, police can directly access vital information of the concerned criminals to ensure that they would not be able to commit more crimes in the future.

He also asked the public to cooperate, explaining that SIM card registration added to security and was not a breach of privacy.

“The PNP sees no breach in the privacy of information as collection of identification has been a practice already for post-paid application,” he said.

In February, the Senate and the House of Representatives ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the measure requiring the registration of mobile phone subscriber identity module cards or SIMs.

The SIM Registration Act carries the feature of securing the identity of every pre-paid SIM card subscriber.

Under this act, Public Telecommunications Entities (PTEs) must require the registration of SIM cards for collection in a centralized database as a pre-requisite to the sale and activation of SIM cards. — DVM, GMA News