ICT Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo has clarified that the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) intends to install Device Management Systems (DMS) on phones not to spy on kenyans but to end the proliferation of counterfeit devices and theft.
Speaking to the Senate ICT Committee, Owalo said that the implementation will be done in strict compliance with the Constitution and all other relevant laws in the country.
According to Owalo, DMS will help deal with Sim Boxing. This is a form of fraud in telecommunications where a person usually not licenced to provide telecommunication services sets up a device that can take up several sim cards at once.
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The person then uses it to terminate or receive international calls from the internet. He then feeds them to the country mobile network subscribers as though it is local telephone traffic.
Owalo said that criminals have taken advantage of new technologies by exploiting gaps in technology. It is therefore imperative that society should ensure that such criminal elements are impeded in their quest to exploit this for unfair gain or to perpetrate crime and compromise national security.
The government through the Central Equipment Identity Registry(CEIR) will register all genuine mobile phones after which there is continuous monitoring of mobile phones as they connect to the nation’s networks.
Irrregular devices are permanently blocked from the system in case of reported stolen or lost phone with invalid identifying information and the eventual blocking of the phone if certain procedures are not completed.
“Communication Authority of Kenya will collaborate with TradeNet which is an online platform that serves as a single entry point for parties involved in international trade and transport logistics to lodge documents electronically for processing approvals and to make payments electronically for fees, levies, duties and taxes due to the government on good imported or exported from the country.”
The CS rubbished reports of the systems being used by government to spy on its citizens saying that they will focus more on how the device Management systems will help in benefitting kenyans within the laws of the land.