The House of Representatives approves the SIM card bill with a 167-6 vote, which aims to require all mobile phone users to register their Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards.
According to a report from gmanetwork.com, House Bill 7233 also known as the “SIM Card Registration Act” intends to track down people who use mobile phones to commit criminal acts.
The measure will require public telecommunication entities (PTE) and direct sellers to collect information such as the full name, date of birth, gender and address of the end-user of the sim card upon presentation of valid ID.
Users will also be required to fill out and sign a controlled-number registration form which will be issued upon purchase of the SIM card.
Foreign nationals on the other hand are required to provide their full name, passport number and address in the form they will be filling out.
Access to information from the SIM cards are prohibited under the bill unless granted by the subscriber with written consent, issued subpoena, order of a court upon finding probable cause, or written request issued by a law enforcement agency if an investigation regarding crime-related use of the SIM card is ongoing.
PTEs and sellers will be ordered to maintain a SIM card registry which they will submit to the Department of Information and Communications Technology every six months.
Once subscribers fail to register their SIM cards, the PTE may deactivate its services to the user.
(Photo source: dignited.com/ gizmodo.com)
