KENYA : Netizens have accused Safaricom PLC of allegedly aiding State Abductions, through sharing confidential Customers data.
The accusation, follows recent alleged abductions of Young Kenyans, who criticized President William Ruto's administration on Social Media.
A Section of Kenyans Claim that the Giant Telco, allegedly shared confidential data like Location and Phone Numbers to Security Agencies, of individuals who 'troll the Government.
The Remarks, follow the abduction of Social Media sensation Kibet Bull, who Busia Senator Okiyah Omtatah alleged was being trailed by a Subaru prior to his disappearance.
Kibet, who rose into the Spotlight through his signature Silhouette's depicting the State of Nation, went missing shortly after meeting the Busia Senator.
According to Omtatah, the Security agencies had prior knowledge of Kibet's location. Trailed him as he left for his Brother's apartment, before the family reported Kibet and his brother missing.
Billy Mwangi, another young Kenyan was picked by masked men in Embu, bundled into a car and has not been seen since then.
This is not the First Instance in which Safaricom PLC has faced the Accusations.
Safaricom PLC recently refuted claims that they share their customer data and Location details with third parties, saying that can only happen when required by a court order.
The Telecommunications Company, was responding to Media reports, that insinuated the telco was sharing information and Collaborating with security Agencies.
According to the reports, Kenya's mobile network operators have for years provided the country's security agencies with nearly unrestricted access to their customers' sensitive call data and location records.
The Exposee explained that Safaricom routinely hands over customer data to authorities without requiring court orders.
A police unit embedded at the telco's headquarters facilitates the nearly instantaneous provision of the data to security agencies.
This, has allegedly has not only enabled police and intelligence to track and apprehend suspects, but has also violated the privacy rights of innocent Kenyans.
It has also raised concerns about the data being used to facilitate the country's rampant abductions and extrajudicial killings by security forces.
The Reports, stated that A months-long investigation uncovered that British software firm Neural Technologies helped embed a data management system in Safaricom's networks that allows real-time spying, and the two companies have explored even more invasive predictive profiling and tracking capabilities.
The probe also found irregularities and apparent falsification in call records Safaricom provided to courts in cases investigating enforced disappearances and murders allegedly involving police.
This unfettered access and lack of judicial oversight raises grave concerns about the safety of Kenyan citizens' personal data and the misuse of that information to enable human rights abuses by the state.
Vodafone, the UK parent company that is Safaricom's largest shareholder, did not respond to requests for comment on the concerning practices and lack of safeguards at its Kenyan subsidiary.
Kenyans took to Social media, calling for the Telco company to be held accountable. Netizens, have started a Campaign dubbed 'BoycottSafaricom' following the exposee.
A Section of Netizens, also linked Safaricom to Collaborating with the Government to silent Kenyans.
The Accusation, followed a Nationwide Safaricom Internet outage in June during the Gen Z demos. Kenyans using the Telco, were unable to access internet for hours at the height of the Finance Bill Protest's, in what the Telco termed as a disruption of it's underseas cables but couldn't convince netizens. Safaricom PLC Chief Executive Officer, Peter Ndegwa, recently apologized to Kenyans over the June Network Outage.
Responding to the data sharing allegations, in a statement, CEO Peter Ndegwa said they respect the customers' privacy and adhere strictly to the country's data protection laws.
"For information purposes a customer's Call Data Record (CDR) does not show any live location and movements of customers but are generated after a call is terminated and for text messages once they are sent or received and this is for purposes of billing only,” Ndegwa said.
He said in July 2012, Safaricom onboarded Neural Technologies to implement a Fraud Management System (FMS) on all its business lines, including their mobile money system.
“Neural Technologies is a global brand operating in over 30 countries providing support to telcos and utility, companies to prevent and detect fraud with no third-party access,” he said.
Ndegwa said Safaricom was recently awarded an ISO 27701 Privacy Information Management System (PIMS) certificate by the British Standards Institute (BSI) after a vigorous audit.