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Amid National ID delays, DICT says SIM registration can use 'less' secure means

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Warren de Guzman, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="NATIONAL ID SIM CARD" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/life/10/12/20221012-national-id-sim-card.jpg"/></figure></div><p>MANILA - The Department of Information and Communications Technology said on Wednesday the implementation of mandatory SIM registration cannot wait for the completion of the National ID system.</p><p>DICT Secretary Ivan Uy said they will instead use other government-issued IDs and even &quot;less secure&quot; onboarding systems of e-wallets to implement SIM registration. </p><p>“There are other IDS that we have been using. Passports, driver&#x27;s license. There is a way of validating them. You can always contact DFA, LTO. In the meantime while we are waiting like forever for our digital, National ID, we have to move on,&quot; Uy said.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/09/20/22/72-m-filipinos-now-registered-in-national-id-psa">72 million Filipinos now registered under national ID system: PSA</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/10/03/22/psa-eyes-rollout-of-printable-version-of-national-ids">PSA eyes rollout of printable version of national IDs amid delays</a></li></ul><p>The biometric data collected for PhilSys would have been ideal to secure the SIM registration, Uy said. But the DICT is also willing to use &quot;less secure&quot; means to register as many as 150 million prepaid SIMs like the registration processes of e-wallets and online banks. </p><p>“Di ba ang hinihingi lang sa inyo is a valid ID, picture, padala. (Don&#x27;t they just ask you to send a valid ID and picture?) Once you are verified you are given that account,” the DICT chief said. </p><p>A major drawback of these measures is the lack of biometric data. </p><p>“It definitely is less secure, but as I said, if you want the best, do we wait? How long do we wait? Might as well proceed with this and then as the technology is more available with respect to higher security level, then we roll it out as it comes. We cannot just wait forever.”</p><p>The Philippine Statistics Authority, which oversees the National ID project, said the release of the physical national ID cards has been limited by the printing capacity of the machines of the PSA’s printing partner, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. </p><p>Meanwhile, Uy said the number of prepaid SIMs may be overstated. He said around 40 million prepaid SIMS are likely no longer used because they have expired or have been thrown away. Uy estimated that the number of active prepaid SIMs may just be 100 million. </p><p>The National Telecommunications Commission or NTC is tasked with preparing the Implementing Rules and Regulations or IRR for the mandatory SIM registration. </p><p>Uy said this should not take too long as the NTC already prepared a draft IRR when when the bill was still in Congress. </p><p>&quot;So I think they can easily come out with the IRR very soon. They need to continue to work with the telcos and other stakeholders.”</p><p>SIM registration is expected to curb text scams and text spam. However, opponents of the measure doubt it can achieve this, and warned that it may also compromise telco subscribers&#x27; privacy. </p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2283695" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

DICT Secretary Ivan Uy said they will instead use other government-issued IDs and even 'less secure' onboarding systems of e-wallets to implement SIM registration. 

Amid National ID delays, DICT says SIM registration can use 'less' secure means

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Amid National ID delays, DICT says SIM registration can use 'less' secure means

Warren de Guzman,

ABS-CBN News

Published October 12, 2022 04:10 PM PHT

Read More:

SIM registration

National ID

PhilSys

DICT

Ivan Uy

online privacy

text scams

text spam

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