According to the Ministry of Industry, there are about four million prepaid phones in the country. MEPs argue mainly about security interests. According to them, the current situation opens up space for the possible misuse of prepaid SIM cards for communication and coordination of activities that are directed against the security interests of the Czech Republic.
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“From the point of view of the scope of intelligence services, this is a significant security problem, which is mainly related to the situation in the field of international terrorism. There are documented specific cases where persons involved in terrorist activities purposefully purchased prepaid SIM cards in the Czech Republic precisely in order to make it difficult to reveal their true identity, “the deputies write in the justification of their proposal.
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They cite terrorists involved in the planning of major terrorist attacks in Europe in 2015 as examples. According to them, the Czechia is also the only Central European country where anonymous cards can be purchased.
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Červíčková is a member of the Constitutional Law Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee. Mašek is the Deputy Chairman of the Security Committee and the Chairman of the Standing Control Commission of the General Inspectorate of Security Forces.
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“The issue of deanonymization of prepaid SIM cards is being discussed, but before this can happen, a careful analysis of not only the telecommunications market and consideration of all the pros and cons of such a change is needed,” the Ministry of Industry and Trade responded.
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“Given the impacts (there are more than four million prepaid SIM cards), it is appropriate for an agreement to be reached at government level, preferably as an initiative from the State Security Council,” the ministry said.
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MEPs want to insert their proposal into the government’s amendment to the Electronic Communications Act, which is to introduce a European code for electronic communications into Czech law. The draft is still awaiting discussion in the Chamber.
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