uts/200/17 April 13, 2017 The Executive Director Uganda Communications Commission Kampala Attn: Eng. Mutabazi Godfrey, RE: ULS POSITION ON SIM CARD VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION ‘The above matter refers. The Uganda Law Society is mandated to protect and assist the public and the Government in all matters touching, ancillary or incidental tothe law. We have seen your directive dated 11° April 2017, Ref: LA /40/20 addressed to all tolecommunication operators setting a seven day deadline within which mobile phone ‘users should update their SIM registration using the National Identification Card, (Our considered view is that the manner in which the directive has been imposed is problematic in the following ways; 1) The directive to use only the national ID is not supported by existing law. The current law that can be used is the Regulations of Interception of ‘Communications Instrument No. 42 of of 2011. This law under Regulation 7(3) allows valid identification documents recognized and issued by government agencies such as National Identity Cards, Work permits, National Passports, Driving Licence, Student Identity Card and Voter's cards te be used for registration. If one form of identification is going to be preferred, then these regulations will have to frst be amended, 2 The time allocated ofthe exercise is very limited and itis not possible that NIRA, has the capacity to ensure that all Ugandans who use mobile phones can be registered for National Identity Cards in seven days (four days of which are 1 “Tobe a Protea Associaon in Fostering Aacoss olution, te Rl of aw and Good Governance in Ugerda™ Pet Sk Sana - ania Aven Kole POBox 435 Kanga, Up Wt 220 #494 at Fan so 18 8 1 TOU FREE NES: co0r0010 one OTOIST "Ea uognnag” Weta, wr doepublic holidays), We are of the view that the requirement to use the National ID 10 re-register within seven (7) days is unreasonable, Whilst we acknowledge the nature of security threats posed by unlicensed SIM cards and the mandate of UCC under Section 6 of the Uganda Communications Act to monitor, inspect, licence, supervise, control and regulate communications services to deal with the threats, we are of the view that the directive should not be in violation of the existing legal framework, The ULS therefore recommends the following action points for your immediate consideration; 1) The seven days period required to verify and validate the SIM cards is short and Lnrealistic and should be extended to a more reasonable time frame. This would also allow those without National IDs to acquire one, 2 Whereas we have noted that on this occasion data will not be shared, we are of the view that the Bill on data protection needs to be passed urgently UCC should ensure the existence of appropriate privacy safeguards and data protection policies. This is citieal for building consumer confidence, 3 We also recommend that Government originates a more comprehensive law to {govern SIM card registration. For instance, in Kenya, there is the Information and Communications (Registration of subscribers of Telecommurication services) Regulations, 2012 and the (REGISTRATION OF SIM-CARDS) REGULATIONS, 2015. In South Africa, they have an elaborate Regulation oj interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act (RICA). In Uganda, the Regulation of Interception of Communications Act 2010 and the Regulations have several gaps. These gaps cannot be cured by adhoc interventions. Lastiy, we request that you convene a stakeholders meeting to discuss these issues so that we can collectively put in place legally acceptable mechanisms that will not disenfranchise people from accessing communication. This in our view will also go along way in avoiding protracted and unnecessary litigation.| Took forward to your positive response. Yours Sincerely, Francis Gimara President ULS CC The Honourable Minister of information Communications Technology and National Guidance CC The Inspector General of Police CC Executive Director NIRA,