A Lobby group has asked the court to compel Safaricom to delete all the subscribers’ photos taken during the current Sim card registration.
Katiba Institute and LSK have moved to court challenging the decision by Safaricom to obtain photos or biometric data as a requirement for Sim registration. They termed the move illegal.
Through lawyers Dudley Ochiel and Wanjeri Wangui, the lobby groups argue that taking photos of their subscribers is unlawful and against the Kenya Information and Communication (Registration of SIM cards) Regulations 2015, and also section 31 of the Data Protection Act,2019.
They further want Safaricom to be barred from obtaining the photos or other biometric data from subscribers as a pre-condition to SIM card registration.
“And further to quash Safaricom’s threat to switch off subscribers who are registered and verified on the common platform *106#,” reads court documents.
They argue that on April 10, CA clarified that the Kenya Information and Communications (Registration of SIM-cards) Regulations, 2015 governing registration and verification of subscribers “do not require subscribers to submit photos of themselves during registration."
