A member of the New Patriotic Party’s communications team, Eric Amoako Twum, is blaming the various telecommunication providers for the data theft in the sim card registration exercise in the country.
In view of this, Mr. Amoako Twum has asked authorities to interrogate the service providers to explain the current leak of personal biodata of persons believed to have engaged in the re-registration exercise.
Making his submission on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana on Wednesday, 3rd May 2023, Eric Twum expressed his discontent at the height of unprofessionalism exhibited by the service providers.
“I think this is a serious breach and if for nothing at all, the telcos have a question to answer,” he said.
He noted that the service providers are liable for these defects due to targets given to them on the number of sim cards to be activated.
“I have worked in a telco. This is not something that started yesterday or today. Where in times past, people would actually sit in their offices and everything and activate sim cards, sometimes based on some targets that have been given to them. Sales target or something,” he suggested.
While the actual cause of these leaks of personal data is unknown, Mr. Amoako Twum has called for an investigation to unravel the true cause of this breach.
“And that is why it’s extremely important that a thorough investigation needs to be done to get to the bottom of it. ”
He also raised possible fears of national security implications which he believes would be dire for the country.
But, the host of Good Morning Ghana, Dr. Randy Abbey, believes the issue goes beyond the telecommunication providers.
He asserts that the government in pursuit of this directive must be made to answer questions on its inability to envisage issues as this and prevented them.
“Now, it is the responsibility of those who brought this policy and decided that every Ghanaian must comply with this policy to ensure that there cannot be a breach because you are asking for information that if it is breached, can lead to dire consequences. ”
Dr. Abbey also indicated that this avoidable mistake would remain a force for government to reckon with as it would be highly difficult to talk people into a future possible policy that involves data collection.
“And what gives us comfort going forward when we are told that we want to use just this, we want to use just this ID. If we can see such breaches and what has happened, how does it even give people comfort that moving forward, look, this is the right thing to do…”
Meanwhile, the Member of Parliament for Tamale North, Alhaji Alhassan Suhuyini, who was also a panelist on the show attributed the problem to the lack of supervision on the part of the government after establishing agencies and bodies in the country.
According to him, when such things become recurrent, these bodies become dormant and deliver mediocre results.
However, Mr. Amoako Twum admitted to the porous nature and handling of data issues in the country, adding that the country hasn’t succeeded in issues of consumer protection.
He requested that Parliament takes over the issue and ensures that it is dealt with, giving the development and security dimension the matter has taken.
Background
Reports of ‘strange’ numbers linked to peoples’ Ghana Cards have been on the increase in recent weeks.
This was after a local journalist, Kofi Adomah, raised the alarm in a viral video that he discovered after visiting his network provider that several sim cards have been linked to his Ghana Card without his knowledge.
In response to this development, the National Communications Authority tasked the various telecommunication networks to launch a shortcode to allow subscribers to verify the number of SIMs linked to their Ghana Cards.
By: Leonora Enyonam Annoh | Metrotvonline.com | Ghana
