There is no plan to tap private data of mobile phone users, Communications Authority has said.
In a media briefing on Friday, CA denied media reports which alleged that the three telecommunication firms operating in the country had received an executive order to allow the authority to hack into their computer servers with a newly acquired Device Management System.
“The attention of the CA is drawn to claims in the social and local media that the authority is implementing the Device Management System with the express intention of monitoring and accessing private data of mobile phone users,” CA director general Francis Wangusi said.
He said the DMS does not have the ability to gain access to information on mobile devices including details on subscribers’ communications such as voice calls and SMS messages as well as mobile money transactions.
He said the acquisition of a DMS is the second phase of the initial initiative that saw Mobile Network Operators switch off all counterfeit mobile devices in Kenya in 2010.
This followed huge proliferation of counterfeit devices which were often illegally imported and acquired by the public, creating a serious challenge to mobile networks and subscribers.
Wangusi said the system will be used to ensure that only authorized communications devices are in use in the market as provided for in the ICT sector law.
“The implementation of this system is also intended to meet the requirements of the East African Region under the Northern Corridor Integration Project Heads of State Summit, which directed each member state to deploy systems that curb illegal by-pass and termination of telecommunications traffic within the context of the ‘One Network Area’,” he said.
According to the CA, the DMS is a comprehensive system and has capacity to manage entry of devices into the country and also prevent access of illegal communication devices to mobile telecommunications services.
“The DMS will be populated by data of all genuine devices to uniquely identify each device. Once deployed, the DMS shall facilitate denial of service to all illegal communications devices within the country including SIM boxes, counterfeit, substandard, non-type approved and stolen devices,” he said.