THE choice between security and privacy is difficult to make in a country like Pakistan. Saddled with a law and order situation that is perpetually worsening, the government tends to prefer security over privacy. The latest evidence of this is the requirement of official SIM verification before people can use their new cellphone connections. Aimed at checking the use of modern technology for criminal and terrorist purposes, it is neither clear whether it can achieve the stated purpose nor whether adequate safeguards have been put in place to prevent the misuse of the data so gathered.

Starting today, the government has ordered cellphone companies not to issue pre-activated SIM cards. They can only sell inactive SIM cards which are activated after Nadra confirms that the user is a bona fide applicant. The registration process is meant to make it easier to trace suspects who use cellphones for criminal activities. But there are serious question marks regarding the efficacy of the registration system. By mid-November, after a six-month exercise to register and vet all existing SIM cards, the cellphone operators blocked 11.15 million SIM cards that did not match Nadra`s records. However, the CPLC chief in Karachi, Sharfuddin Memon, has claimed that it has had no effect on kidnapping-for-ransom cases. Senator Talha Mahmood, chairman of the standing committee on the interior, has suggested the likely reason “We are not ready to believe that all SIMs sold on fake information have been blocked or even traced.” Unless the government can fully ensure that neither the cellphone operators nor Nadra activate SIM cards with unverified data, the use of such SIM cards by criminals will remain a possibility — and defeat the purpose of the registration.

Meanwhile, data on law-abiding citizens with cellphones is now centralised and computerised, which runs the risk of it falling into unscrupulous hands. From the commercial exploiters, such as telemarketers, to law enforcement personnel looking to harass and snoop on citizens, the threats are very real. The government must ensure that the cellphone database is secure from those looking to profit from it.