The proposed SIM Card Registration Law was eventually approved by the House of Representatives on its second reading, according to news and local reports. This aims to safeguard the privacy of people and customers nationwide.
This clause requires every public telecommunications company (PTE) or authorized supplier to request that the end-user complete forms requesting their personal information. Name, birthdate, gender, cellphone number, serial number, and address as they appear on official identification are all included. This precaution is being taken to preserve public safety and to reduce the incidences of troll messaging, hacking, and other shady scamming methods.
Another requirement is that the SIM user is present when making the transaction to reduce the possibility of purchasing in bulk “for others” or under pretenses.
House of Representatives Approves SIM Card Proposal
The pandemic has made this problem more obvious than ever. The information provided by local telecom giant Smart about these scams is alarming: 11.3 billion attempts to reach harmful websites were stopped, 342 million smishing messages were stopped in their tracks, 167,000 mobile numbers were blocked because of scams, and 5.5 million URLs were blocked.
Many people seem to be trying to take advantage of others who are technologically unprepared, such as the elderly, the young, or the uninitiated. The NTC has previously issued a number of comments urging customers to exercise caution and outlining the steps they are taking to address this constantly changing problem.
The proposed SIM Card Registration Law will now move on to the Senate and ultimately the hands of President Marcos after passing the House of Representatives.
READ MORE: 3 Warning Signs of SIM Cloning
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