The Socio-Financial Rights and Accountability Venture has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to order the Nigerian Communications Fee to withdraw the directive asking Nigerians to submit the Worldwide Cell Tools Id (IMEI) of their telephones.
The Nigerian Communications Fee had acknowledged that Nigerians must submit the Worldwide Cell Tools Id of their telephones to it from July.
In response, SERAP acknowledged that the directive ought to be withdrawn, noting that it can’t be justified beneath any circumstance.
The group mentioned the NCC’s directive quantities to mass surveillance, which is opposite to the 1999 Structure and would have a profound influence on different human rights.
A tweet from SERAP learn, “We urge President Buhari to direct the Nigerian Communications Fee to right away withdraw the unlawful directive asking Nigerians to submit the Worldwide Cell Tools Id of their telephones.
“We’ll see in court docket if this isn’t withdrawn inside 48 hours.
“The directive can’t be justified beneath any circumstances, because it quantities to mass surveillance, which is opposite to the Nigerian Structure of 1999 [as amended], and violates the rights to privateness, freedom of expression, and would have a profound influence on different human rights.”
The regulatory physique had made the directive within the fee’s Revised Nationwide Id Coverage for SIM Card Registration.
That is a part of NCC’s transfer to start out the implementation of the System Administration System (a Centralised Tools Id Register) backed by President Muhammadu Buhari, in response to Punch.
A portion of the coverage mentioned, “Accordingly, His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, has directed that the System Administration System ought to be applied inside three months.”
The NCC mentioned, “With the goal to curtail the counterfeit cell phone market, discourage cell phone theft, improve Nationwide Safety, defend client curiosity, enhance income technology for the federal government, cut back the speed of kidnapping, mitigate using stolen telephones for crime, and facilitate blocking or tracing of stolen cellphones and different sensible gadgets, one of many means to attain that is via the deployment of System Administration System.
“The implementation of a Centralised Tools Id Register in any other case often known as System Administration System will function a repository for holding data of all registered cellphones’ Worldwide Cell Tools Id and house owners of such gadgets.
“IMEIs which were reported as both stolen or unlawful can be shared via the DMS to all of the operators and repair suppliers.”
The IMEI quantity is the cell phone’s fingerprint. It’s a 15-digit quantity distinctive to every cellphone. With the IMEI quantity, a cellphone might be tracked and positioned regardless of the mobile quantity in it.
