Image: Andrey Metelev, Unsplash
Mandatory SIM card registration
The Polish government has suggested new EU rules for the mandatory registration of prepaid SIM cards, in a new attempt to eliminate the right to anonymous communication.
SIM (subscriber identity module) cards are used to identify and authenticate mobile phone numbers, and for connecting to telecoms networks.
A document obtained by Statewatch (pdf), which was circulated to EU member state delegations at the end of January, argues that prepaid SIM cards “have become a tool for criminal activity and pose a real threat to public safety.”
SIM registration rules
SIM registration rules already exist in a number of EU countries. They require anyone purchasing a SIM card to provide an identity document. The phone number and the personal details in the identity document are then registered with the authorities.
As the Polish government notes in the document, this makes it “much easier to monitor and identify mobile and internet accounts that require a telephone number.”
“Challenges” for the police
The Polish authorities claim there are a number of “challenges” that arise when SIM card registration is not required:
- Phone users are anonymous (that is, invisible to the authorities);
- Anonymity “makes it difficult to monitor criminal activities such as drug trafficking, fraud or terrorism”
- SIM cards are used on a one-off basis, “making long-term tracking and evidence collection difficult”
- No common rules between states mean “criminals… use cards purchased in Member States with less restrictive laws”;
- Anonymous SIM cards are used to set up “fake online accounts,” facilitating cybercrime;
- Identifying users becomes more difficult and expensive for the authorities;
- Anonymous SIM cards in combination with encryption make it “even more difficult to intercept communications”;
- As well as inhibiting investigation and prosecution of crimes that have been committed, anonymous SIM cards “makes it difficult to prevent crimes at the planning stage.”
The document does not mention the fact that many people have legitimate needs for anonymous communication – for example, whistleblowers, journalists, dissidents or people seeking to escape abusive partners.
“No empirical evidence” for crime reduction
The issue of mandatory SIM registration has been raised by European governments on many occasions, and rules on SIM registration exist in multiple European countries.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that it is not an unjustified interference with the right to privacy, in a case concerning German SIM registration rules.
However, governments and trade bodies have found no evidence that it supports a reduction in crime.
In the UK, a 2007 parliamentary question received the following response from the government:
“This issue was considered in detail by an expert group comprising representatives of law enforcement, the security and intelligence agencies and communications service providers following the terrorist attack on London in July 2005. The experts’ findings remain valid. They concluded that the compulsory registration of ownership of mobile telephones would not deliver any significant new benefits to the investigatory process and would dilute the effectiveness of current self-registration schemes.”
The mobile phone operators’ trade organisation, GSMA, has published two studies examining the issue.
Its 2016 study found that there were at least 147 countries were people had to provde their identity “to register and/or activate their prepaid SIM cards.”
Many of these policies were introduced “to help mitigate security concerns and to address criminal and anti-social behaviour.”
The study went on to say:
“To date, there has been no empirical evidence that a mandatory SIM registration policy directly leads to a reduction in crime but governments perceive the process as a deterrent to the use of mobile platforms in supporting criminal activity.”
Another anti-privacy law?
The Polish government’s paper was on the agenda for the EU’s Law Enforcement Working Party at the end of January. The outcome of the discussions remains unknown.
If member states are in favour of introducing EU-wide rules on SIM registration, it will be one amongst many new laws designed by the police that will undermine the right to privacy.
Documentation
- Use of prepaid cards to commit terrorist and criminal offenses (Council doc. 5556/25, LIMITE, 28 January 2025, pdf)
