Sheinbaum promotes national phone registry: the new attack on privacy

Claudia Sheinbaum intends to revive López Obrador's failed telephone registry, now under the protection of the General Law of the National Public Security System.

The initiative seeks to oblige citizens to register their phone numbers in a database accessible to Public Security institutions. According to the government, this measure will serve to "combat extortion and kidnapping," but the reality is that it opens the door to state espionage.

A dangerous precedent

Sheinbaum's plan establishes that the Digital Transformation and Telecommunications Agency will be responsible for developing a digital platform for the mandatory registration of users.

This system, far from being a security tool, is shaping up as a mechanism of government control that will allow the intervention of private communications under the pretext of "national security."

Privacy violations and data abuse

The reform obliges mobile phone companies to register all their users, ensuring that no line can be activated without being previously identified in the government's database.

This means that every person with a cell phone will be tracked by the government and could be subject to surveillance without a court order.

Sheinbaum revives AMLO's espionage policy

This proposal is not new. In 2021, López Obrador promoted a mobile phone registry with the same argument of fighting crime. His true intention was to collect citizens' biometric data.

The same "security" narrative is now used to justify the new database, but the reality is that organized crime doesn't use phones registered in their name. This measure will only affect ordinary citizens.

Mandatory data you must provide

• Full name
• Address
• Nationality
• Official photo ID
• Biometric data: fingerprints, face, iris, among others.

Criticisms and risks of the registry

"Obliging those with a phone line to register their biometric data with the government is a serious violation of privacy"

- Human Rights Watch

If citizens' biometric data is compromised, it could be used for fraud, identity theft, or even political repression.

A total surveillance state?

This mobile phone registry is just the first step. Sheinbaum seeks to consolidate a surveillance state where every citizen's movement can be monitored.

Under the pretext of "national security," the government will be able to intercept calls, messages, and even geolocate anyone in real-time without a court order.

We are facing a direct threat to the freedom and privacy of Mexicans.