Ursula Owusu Ekuful
The Ministry of Communications is in the process of establishing a Central Equipment Identity Registry (CEIR) to track unique International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers of the various smart devices that are imported into the country, Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu Ekuful has said.
According to her, the Ghana CEIR would be linked to the international database to prevent the trafficking of substandard, blacklisted or stolen devices into the country and eventually prevent the use of counterfeit and stolen digital devices on mobile networks.
This was made known in Parliament Tuesday when the minister appeared before the House to answer a question by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Assin South, John Ntim Fordjour.
Mr Fordjour asked what measures the ministry was putting in place to ensure user privacy protection amidst fears that a million units of inexpensive smartphones sold in developing countries like Ghana contained preloaded applications that harvested user data without the owners’ knowledge.
The minister indicated that the system would ensure digital and social safety by providing security against theft or devices and access to data by third parties.
“Unregistered devices would be blocked after appropriate notification period” the minister said, stressing that the obligation of government to uphold and protect the right and property of citizens would be enhanced through the use of this system.
The minister also pointed out that the ministry was in the process of introducing comprehensive cyber-security legislation and the establishment of the Cyber Security Authority (CSA) to regulate the digital ecosystem in Ghana
“The Ministry, through the CSA shall be responsible for cyber-security, research and development to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities and threats in the use of existing digital communication devices which will aid in sensitizing the public on the blacklisted brands and devices to avoid”, the minister noted
She said apart from this, the government has established the Data Protection Commission (DPC) after the Data Protection Act was passed in 2012 to help protect the privacy of the individual and personal data by regulating the processing of personal information and provide the process to obtain, hold, use or disclose personal information.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr