I guess SIM card registration can be a very controversial topic. It was pretty much like the National ID law that was passed during the time of former Philippine president, Rodrigo R. Duterte. Some idiot on Facebook dared to post, "Well, it's state subversion! It's so the government can easily subvert us!" Well, if I could only respond, "Where's the proof?" The person could only reply something like, "Trust me bro or you're automatically stupid!" What a nice response, right? Well, I'm obviously being sarcastic. For one, after receiving multiple spam messages. It was very tiresome dealing with them offering things too good to be true. That's why as a business graduate, I'm very in for the sim card registration law for a good reason.
Some people could appeal to Privacy International. An article from Privacy International was in regards to SIM card registration. However, a bit of research on Privacy International's founder, Simon Davies, has pending child sex abuse charges. It's really no surprise to find that Davies himself was, back in the 1980s, also molesting boys. I believe misuse and abuse of data can be very real. However, I feel that Davies' real aim might not be securing the data privacy of law-abiding citizens but of like-minded people like him. A lot of cases of crime are used by anonymous numbers and burner phones. No, this stuff isn't mere fiction in television series or movies. The use of anonymity and burner phones in crime scenes is very real.
Sure, SIM card registration isn't perfect. I believe we still need to question why we need it. I believe there has to be the need to amend it if something is unjust. I believe that companies should be held liable if they misuse and abuse collected data. The government should also avoid becoming authoritarian and seek to be authoritative. However, I think registration of SIM cards of private citizens should really at least help lessen scams. It would at least try to help reduce those spammers who'd be using multiple numbers.
I still laugh at the idea that Privacy International suggests that having SIM card registrations only fuels black markets. Please, there's already been a lot of black markets for people to communicate via smartphone anonymously. Also, we already have SIM card registration even in democratic countries such as Norway, Uruguay, Japan, Switzerland, Australia, Germany, Italy, France, Taiwan, South Korea, and Brazil. South Korea and Taiwan may be democratic but they require SIM cards to be registered. I wonder why is the Philippines trying to be exempt especially in a country where phone scams are really heavy? What do you expect from an organization founded by some pedophile?
Right now, I want to fix the system in itself while I favor SIM card registration. Maybe, it's time to help people get their national IDs faster. Have more telecommunication companies. I'd suggest that it's time for companies in the telecommunications business to help with the registration. Meanwhile, it's time to also strengthen the respect for the data privacy act for both citizens and the government. This law may not be perfect. However, we can keep improving laws from time to time such as this one.