House committee wants Equity Thin SIM card technology suspended

Equity Bank CEO James Mwangi. The bank wanted to launch its mobile services using Thin Sim technology. [Photo: File]

A report adopted by a committee of the National Assembly has faulted the deployment of Thin SIM card technology in Kenya and asked that the process cease immediately.

The Parliamentary Committee on Information and Technology wants the process suspended until an independent technical evaluation and functional test is done and the Thin SIM card security audit sanctioned by the Communication Authority of Kenya (CAK) is accomplished.

The Standard has a copy of the signed report that is yet to be tabled on the floor of the National Assembly. The committee accuses the Ministry of ICT and Central Bank of Kenya on the manner in which Equity Bank was licensed to operate technology in Kenya, describing the process as “indecent haste” that did not take into account the concerns of the public.

The report also states that due process was not followed in licensing Equity Bank to operate the technology, thereby exposing Kenyans to great risk insofar as privacy is concerned.

“The committee further notes with deep concern the reckless manner the Ministry of ICT and the Central Bank went about the approval of deployment of Thin SIM in Kenya,” the report states.

The committee censured ICT Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i who it accuses of being “on an advocacy mission” for Equity Bank when he appeared before the committee.

“From the presentation by the CS, there was no evidence the ministry was satisfied that due process was followed and whether the Government was paid competitively for the approval,” the committee argues.

It continues: “The CS was seemingly on an advocacy mission for Equity Bank since he and the ministry acted based on the perceived reputation of the bank rather than facts surrounding the Thin SIM technology.”

The committee, chaired by Kigumo MP Jamleck Kamau, argues that the deployment of Thin SIM technology in Kenya should be thoroughly studied before it is introduced.

“No deliberate attempts have been made by regulators and the Ministry of ICT to mitigate risks associated with the deployment of the technology in Kenya,” reads part of the committee’s report.

The committee members have expressed concern that the introduction of this technology should be done with utmost caution.

The committee has been investigating the introduction of Thin SIM technology in Kenya. It recommends that the Government withdraw forthwith any approval or license issued to any entity for the deployment of the technology in the country.

Technical evidence

The committee notes in its report that the ministry seems to have no problem with Equity Bank’s subsidiary Finserve Africa Ltd rolling out the Sim technology on other service providers’ networks.

“Though the ministry and the CAK maintained that both SIM cards cannot be on at the same time, there were indications that the Thin SIM derives its power from the primary SIM and they did not provide technical evidence to that effect that by the Thin SIM deriving its power from the primary SIM, the Thin SIM can actually work while the primary SIM is off,” reads the report.

The committee says the ministry could not authoritatively confirm that the Thin SIM cannot analyse data in the primary SIM.

It noted instead that the CS only told the committee that there was limited possibility for this to happen, if at all.

The committee also took issue with what it called CAK’s dereliction of duty.

“Even though the Authority claimed that it had conducted functional tests, they submitted no evidence to that effect. On the contrary, some international industry players wrote to say that the technology had not been tested in Kenya and needed to be functionally evaluated,” reads the report.

The committee notes that compliance tests had been submitted in Chinese and at the time of licensing, CAK had not received an authenticated English translation of the same.

“This being the case, it’s hardly believable that CAK conducted any compliance tests as alleged,” stated the committee.

Money transfer

The committee acknowledged that even though the CAK had stated that it received reports from other Government agencies from other countries that the Thin SIM has not caused any problems, it affirms that this was only limited to services other than the mobile money transfer.

“The committee is of the view that the risks surrounding thin SIM technology should have been independently verified by CAK, which should also have undertaken audits before approving deployment of thin SIM Technology,” the report demanded.

The report, which was compiled in November, has leaked to the media after the High Court prohibited Equity Bank from launching its mobile services through the technology.

Justice George Odunga made the order last week after a lobby group, the Legal Advice Centre, moved to court to challenge the credibility of Thin SIM technology.

The group argued that the card was being used without a full audit of data security or Personal Identification Numbers on the primary SIM that will be overlaid by the thin one.

The case will be heard on January 20, 2014.