Egypt’s National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) has received more than 4,000 complaints about mobile phone numbers registered in citizens’ names without their knowledge, Executive Vice President and spokesperson Mohamed Ibrahim told CNBC Arabia.
Ibrahim said the regulator had sent messages to users of 5% of the lines it identified as being in violation, informing them that the lines would be canceled, and that they would bear no costs after cancellation.
He said the Public Prosecution is investigating cases referred by the regulator involving mobile lines registered using people’s personal data without their knowledge.
On Monday, the NTRA announced that it had referred Egypt’s four mobile operators, Vodafone, Orange, e&, and WE, to the Public Prosecution for criminal investigation over mobile lines registered using citizens’ personal data without their knowledge and for SIMs they did not possess.
Ibrahim said the regulator would adopt facial recognition to verify the identity of the person in whose name a line is registered.
He said reviewing and regulating mobile lines is not a one-off process, but is carried out periodically to manage the number and circulation of lines and remove those found to be in violation.
According to Ibrahim, the current measures include handling complaints over numbers registered in citizens’ names without their knowledge, identifying licensing violations involving mobile lines, and taking action against violating lines, including cancellation.
Earlier this week, the restored “My Numbers” feature on the My NTRA app triggered widespread concern among mobile users after revealing thousands of lines registered under citizens’ National ID numbers without their knowledge. The issue has raised further concerns ahead of the implementation of Egypt’s new Criminal Procedure Law, which will rely on judicial notifications sent through National ID numbers and registered phone numbers.
The NTRA announced last Thursday that the service had returned using a “temporary technical fix” that masks the middle digits of phone numbers until updates are completed. Its return exposed the scale of manipulation of users’ data and triggered a wave of complaints over the potential legal consequences of unknown SIMs.
Anger and concern spread across social media as users posted accounts in Facebook groups where they exchange advice and experiences. The accounts revealed a recurring pattern of people discovering multiple numbers registered using their personal data across different mobile operators, even though they had never obtained the SIMs and did not know who was actually using them.
