Egypt Plans App-Based Face Checks for SIM Registration

Egypt is moving SIM registration identity checks into mobile operator apps, giving customers the option to confirm their identity from a phone instead of completing the entire process at a carrier branch.

The National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority is accelerating the introduction of biometric checks following complaints that mobile lines had been registered with citizens’ personal information without their knowledge. The regulator is working with Egypt’s four mobile operators on the updated process.

For the remote option, a customer would open the phone’s camera and complete a facial scan. An automated system would compare the captured face with the photograph on the person’s national identity card. A successful match would allow the carrier to continue issuing the SIM, while a mismatch would stop the transaction.

Customers will retain the option to visit a branch. The regulator says biometric information used during verification will not be available to mobile company employees, limiting staff access to the underlying facial data.

The changes also affect people with existing service. Operators have been instructed to send text messages asking subscribers to update contracts so each line is held in the name of its actual user. Lines can be deactivated if that process is not completed within the required period.

Egypt is also updating the My Numbers feature in the My NTRA app. The service lets a person view mobile lines registered under their national identity record, with parts of each number masked for privacy. NTRA temporarily restored the feature while it develops biometric verification intended to confirm that the person making an inquiry is the identity card holder.

The approach puts the phone on both sides of the identity process: it is the service being registered and the tool used to prove who controls it. Similar measures are appearing elsewhere, including South Korea’s facial-recognition SIM pilot and Vietnam’s face checks when subscribers move a SIM to another device.

For Egyptian customers, the mobile route is designed to link a live user, a national identity card and a phone line without relying entirely on an in-person document inspection.

Sources: NTRA, Egyptian Streets

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By the Mobile ID World Editorial Team