RICA - a useless tool?

The ease with which South Africans can get their hands on pre-RICAed SIM cards, or bypass the onerous process of registering SIM cards, has raised questions as to the effectiveness of the law.

RICA - or the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act - was brought into effect in the middle of 2009, although government passed it as far back as 2003. Essentially, the Act aimed to track down criminals who may have used cellphones in the execution of their crimes.

Under the law, everyone with a SIM card had to provide proof of address and identity, or they would be cut off from their respective networks.

At the time, SA's mobile operators shelled out close on R1 billion getting subscribers to comply with the legislation and cellphone users scurried to meet the deadline for fear of being cut off from what had, for many, become their primary line of communication.

However, just days after the deadline, ITWeb reported that pre-RICAed SIM cards were available to purchase in outlets for around R20. ITWeb also revealed that a fraudster had taken out a contract in someone else's name, despite the law being in effect.

Since then, further reports have emerged that SIM cards are either on sale with RICA already built in, or are easily obtainable - without the buyer presenting the requisite documents. Last week, ITWeb was able to purchase a SIM card and have it RICAed in the space of about five minutes, without having presented any physical form of identification.

While SA's operators say they are doing their part to ensure subscribers are RICA-compliant, in many cases, fraud or sidestepping of the process is out of their hands.

Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx, says most people are not too phased with the concept or process of RICA. “After the birth pains of RICA, we've entered a phase of its life that you might call carefree childhood. No one pays attention to it, and when people are even aware that it's around, it's treated as a nuisance.”

He says that while the intended purpose of the Act, to trace criminals, is realised when crimes are unplanned or opportunistic - faking RICA is not that difficult. “When it works, it works exceptionally well. But when crimes are planned and cellphones are used in the process, part of the planning would be to use SIM cards with fake RICA credentials. For professional criminals, faking RICA is a walk in the park.”

However, Goldstuck says the biggest flaw in RICA is that it criminalises the loss of a SIM card. “[This places] a huge burden on both the public and the police in its requirements for reporting such loss. The public don't want to do it, and the police don't want the public to do it when they have 'real crimes' to solve. Spot the mistake.”

As SA's largest mobile operator, Vodacom says it has taken steps to make it more difficult for people to sell pre-registered SIM cards, like reducing the number of SIM cards that one person can register. “Fundamentally, it's impossible for an operator to police the movement of SIMs once they have been registered, but we do keep an eye out for bulk registrations to clamp down on large-scale fraud.”

Vodacom's head of corporate affairs, Richard Boorman, says the legislation ultimately places the responsibility on users to ensure their SIM registration information is correct. He says there are “large fines” for non-compliance.

“There will always be challenges, [for example] SIMs from outside SA roaming on local networks, but I don't think anyone can argue with the intention of helping our law enforcement authorities do their job.”

MTN says adherence to RICA requires full support and co-operation, not only on the part of network operators, but also of law enforcement agencies, distributors of starter packs and of customers themselves.

Karin Fourie, executive head of communications at Cell C, says the company has invested considerable time and money in systems and processes to support and comply with RICA legislation, but adds that the effectiveness of the Act is debatable. “While the intention of the Act is good in that it was introduced to assist law enforcement agencies to track criminals using cellphones for illegal activities, it is questionable as to how effective it has been in fighting crime.”

Late entrant to the mobile market, Telkom's mobile arm, 8ta, says the company will not activate any SIM card without first ensuring the RICA process is completed. “The objectives of RICA are important and must be supported.”

Launched in October 2010, 8ta's business processes were designed after RICA legislation came into effect - ensuring the company's conformance to the Act from the word go.