Accra, Ghana - Bio data of Ghanaian
subscribers collected by the telecom regulator, the NCA, and its technical
partner, Kelni GVG, as part of the ongoing SIM re-registration exercise across Ghana
is safely hosted by the National Information Technology Agency (NITA),
according to NCA.
A statement issued by the
Director of Legal, Dr. Poku Adusei, in Accra on Friday, reveals that the
centralized databases for the collected biodata are safe with NITA, another
government agency designated by the laws of Ghana to manage the data of
subscribers.
Dr. Adusei, in the
statement, was responding to allegations made earlier by the Vice President of
IMANI Center for Policy Education, Selorm Banttie, on his Facebook wall, that bio
data of subscribers collected in the ongoing SIM re-registration exercise is
being managed by a Kenyan private company.
The statement, however,
reiterated that the data collected is not being stored or managed by any of the
telecommunication networks in the country or the company responsible for
developing the application being used in the exercise.
Below is the full post of
Selorm Banttie on Facebook
Fellow Ghanaians,
The President of Ghana,
HE Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has entrusted his biometric data into the hands
of a Kenyan company whose only track record in biometric data systems is
registering Soy Farmers in a county in Kenya.
After the complaints
being made by agents of the SIM card registration activity and the bottlenecks,
I decided this evening to figure out exactly what was going on. This post here
reveals some very interesting, if not worrying information that I believe every
Ghanaian should be concerned about, regardless of your race, creed or loyalty.
1. The App that is used
for the SIM Re-registration exercise is called the Ghana SIM Registration Agent
App. You can find it on Google Play Store with a search with the same name.
2. In the attached
pictures, the first picture displays the name on the Google App store, as well
as the number of downloads. Interestingly, you will also see several reviews of
the App, almost all of which tell the frustrations of the users while trying to
register poor SIM card owners.
3. A further look down
will show the details of the developer. Usually, there will be details about
the developer, their offices, their address and others. In this case, for
whatever reason, there is only an email address, info@ghanaid.com.
4. Refer to the pictures.
There is no website that exists for Ghanaid.com. Feel free to check the website
on your browser, and take a screenshot for reference. It is a blank white page.
Please refer to attached pictures as of today 06-01-2021
5. A check on a universal
database on the registrars of the ghanaid.com website reveals more. The WHOIS
raw data is also exhibited in the attached pictures. The website was registered
on the 27th of July 2021. Coincidentally, the Minister of Communication
announced in August the re-registration activity with the view to reduce and eradicate
fraud and outlined a time period from October to March 31st 2022. Exhibits
attached.
6. The Company that
Registered the Ghanaid Website is called Pitstop Technologies and the
registrant is from Kenya. The details of the registrant are on the WHOIS Raw
Data. A check on LinkedIn however shows the registrar as the CEO of another
company altogether with only 2 mentions of him linked to Pitstop Technologies
online. One is about a litigation with another company for branding activity
and the other is about Registration of Soy Farmers. Hold on, we will get back
to that soon… Exhibits are attached.
7. There is no website
for pitstop technologies limited anywhere. Google it. Search high and low for
it. Go everywhere. I stand to be corrected with a national apology wearing
sackcloth if you find it between today and tomorrow. A further search for
Pitstop Technologies reveals a company with a similar name registered in Malta
in 2018. That company’s registration status is however invalid since last year.
Exhibits attached.
8. The other mention of
Pitstop Technologies is an article in February 2019 about an exercise to
register biometrically Soy Farmers in Gishu County in Kenya. That is the only
existing track record of the company’s ability to biometrically register anyone
on any database. For reference, Usain Gishu County map in Kenya is also
attached.
The initiative was called
Mkulima initiative and the Facebook and Twitter handles, engagement and
following which are the only evidence of that biometric program are attached
here for you all to see.
9. The whole country of
Ghana, with its 42 million active SIM registrations, has been entrusted with a
company that registered Soy Farmers in a county in Kenya in 2019 with no
website.
Comparatively, the
Electoral Commission which was doing around 18 million voter registrations used
companies that are already in the space and known for undertaking these
activities, for which I dont need to mention names because they are not the
focus of the post.
From the President down
to the beggar on the street with a phone, all of us, our biodata and our
fingerprint data is being handled by a company without a website, with no
references, no track record, no identifiable activities anywhere in the world
but a tiny county the size of Ga East District to handle biometrics.
10. The Ministry of
Communications and Digitalization has handed the whole nation’s activities to
this organization or entity, as far as the digital trail goes.
There are many questions
we should begin to ask about the technical implementation considerations that
went on with an activity like this, which I will ask in a Part 2 tomorrow morning
so I dont flood you with too much data.
For now, chew on the fact
that our data is in the hands of literal amateurs.
Do what you wish with the
info while we visit this issue again tomorrow.
By:
Kanto Okanto
