Honduras: 'Law for Protection of Telecommunications Users' harms privacy and digital inclusion

This is an automated translation of the original release published in Spanish. 

GSMA press release

In the coming days, the National Congress of Honduras could approve the so-called "Law for the Protection of Telecommunications Users", informally known as the "SIM Law". For the GSMA, the global association of the mobile industry, the approval of the current text of the law would represent a risk to the rights of users and an backward step for the regulation of the sector in Honduras.

In the international experience of the GSMA, in addition to imposing unfeasible technical requirements for operators to implement, empirical evidence shows that bills of this type do not contribute to the objective for which they were created: combating criminal activity. As an example, in Mexico, user registries were discontinued due to lack of results.

The project seeks, among other points, to create a database of mobile phone users registered in the country that will be managed by government actors whose regulatory frameworks do not attribute these functions to them. It would also force mobile operators to deliver information on their customers' communications without a court order. These measures open the doors to the violation of the rights to privacy and data protection of the Honduran population.

The Honduran mobile industry shares the objective of guaranteeing a secure environment for users and has been collaborating with CONATEL and the security authorities on a regulation to this end. The current standard under discussion does not reflect the results of these conversations and consensus. The GSMA makes itself available to the sector and the National Congress to contribute to the debate on a text of law for the benefit and protection of all Hondurans.