The Minister-in-Charge of the Cabinet Division informed the National Assembly that cellular mobile operators in Pakistan are not allowed to share consumer information with any third party. This includes all personal and subscriber-related data such as SIM owner details, which are protected under Pakistan’s telecom regulations.
SIM Owner Details Protected Under Telecom License Rules
Under the Minister written reply, Clause 7.7.1 and 7.7.2 of the Long Distance and International (LDI) and Local Loop licenses bind the telecom operators. These regulations limit the distribution of customer information or SIM owner information to third parties, affiliates or subsidiaries. Sharing will only be done in restricted situations like in recovering the debt, inter-operator service provisioning, or where it is necessary by law and then only with the prior informed consent of the customer.
The Minister further clarified that the Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations, 2009, through Regulation 16 requires the privacy of all the customer information, including SIM owner details. The Third Party Service Provider License, Clause 10.1, also makes service providers implement complaint-handling mechanisms and avoid the privacy breach or abuse of consumer information.
The government noted that any unauthorized release of SIM owner details or any customer information without the express agreement is a violation of terms of the license and consumer protection legislation. The operators must make sure that all data manipulations are conducted in accordance with the regulations to the letter to guarantee consumer privacy and avoid abuse of personal data.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has initiated a number of programs to enhance the security of data and safeguard the of the SIM owner details. The number of awareness messages relayed to inform users of scam calls and fraudulent SMS has exceeded 1.065 billion. PTA has also enabled special ringback tones in partnership with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) to alert users on the risk of financial fraud.
Blocking Fraudulent Numbers and Reporting SIM Owner Details Misuse
PTA has implemented stringent actions to prevent the use of masked Universal Access Numbers (UANs) by fraudsters posing as banks and institutions. To prevent the illegal operations, these masked numbers are being blocked at international gateways.
The consumers may also report suspicious calls, scam messages, or misuse of SIM owner details via the Complaint Management System (CMS) of PTA. The CMS has a special section of fraudulent communication complaints where the user has the option of keeping a record of their submissions as well as getting updates on time.
Pakistan does not have an all-encompassing law on data protection at the moment, and the Personal Data Protection Bill 2023 is in the process of discussion. Prior to its enactment, the confidentiality of SIM owner information and telecom information is governed by the PTA licensing terms and Discrimination of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), 2016.
PTA recently denied reports of any data leaks within telecom operators, stating that no SIM owner details or subscriber information were shared. The authority clarified that any leaked data circulating online appears to have originated from other external databases. PTA has since blocked over 1,300 websites and apps involved in trading or sharing personal information without authorization.
Consumer Rights and SIM Owner Details Protection Tools
PTA continues to expand tools that help users secure their personal data and SIM owner details. Consumers can report spam or scam messages by forwarding them to short code 9000, or register in the Do Not Call Register (DNCR) by texting “reg” to 3627. Stolen or lost phones may be reported through the PTA CMS on the IMEI blocking system under the Device Identification Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS) to ensure the SIM owner details is not used by anyone with malicious intent.
The Ministry reiterated that the telecom operators should fully abide by the data protection and telecom licensing rules of Pakistan. Any unauthorized distribution or misuse of the SIM owner information will be addressed as a gross contravention of the consumer protection laws. PTA is also working to improve monitoring mechanisms and awareness to the people in order to sustain the privacy of mobile users and to make sure that data involving subscribers is treated with responsibility.
