Denies request for confidential SIM-swap info, too
GATINEAU — The CRTC informed the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) in a procedural letter last week it won’t be initiating a public proceeding into the issue of unauthorized mobile telephone number transfers and SIM swaps, also known as wireless number porting fraud.
Furthermore, the Commission has denied PIAC’s request in July for the disclosure of confidential information submitted to the Commission by the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) regarding measures being proposed to address unauthorized number porting and SIM swap fraud, as well as confidential data filed by wireless service providers regarding the number of unauthorized mobile telephone number transfers and SIM swaps that have occurred.
As Cartt.ca has reported previously, the issue of wireless number porting fraud has been the subject of extensive correspondence between the Commission and CWTA and its members, including Commission requests for information (RFIs) regarding measures being taken to prevent unauthorized number porting and SIM swapping and RFI responses by CWTA and the carriers.
In a letter dated July 23, PIAC requested the confidential information submitted by CWTA and the mobile carriers, heavily redacted in the publicly available documents, be disclosed to serve the public interest. PIAC also reiterated its request first made in January that a public hearing be held to discuss the issue of SIM swap fraud.
“All stakeholders, including consumer groups and other competitive telecommunications service providers (including potential MVNO operators) should be given an opportunity to be involved in the resolution of this problem in an open public proceeding with access to all content,” reads PIAC’s July 23rd letter.
In the CRTC’s letter dated October 16 and posted to its website on Tuesday, the Commission notes although it is in the public’s interest to know mobile carriers are actively engaged in addressing unauthorized mobile telephone number transfers and SIM swaps, “disclosure of information regarding technical and procedural steps to enhance the verification stage of the overall process would also make this information available to highly sophisticated parties engaged in fraudulent activities,” reads the letter signed by Michel Murray, the CRTC’s director of dispute resolution and regulatory implementation for the telecommunications sector.
“The details of the measures being implemented would provide fraudsters with a better understanding of the processes intended to elude them and thus possibly allow them to adjust their schemes in order to defeat or circumvent the measures. As a result, the disclosure of such information could reasonably be expected to result in a material advantage for these bad actors and cause significant financial and reputational harm to Canadians and their service providers who experience these fraudulent activities. With the potential for significant financial loss arising from every unauthorized customer transfer and SIM swap incident, it is Commission’s staff’s view that there is a level of public harm that outweighs any public benefit in disclosing the details of the measures,” continues the letter.
In addition, the Commission considers the disclosure of data on the number of unauthorized mobile number transfers and SIM swaps would not meaningfully benefit the public interest, the letter says.
“Further, releasing the data on the number of unauthorized mobile telephone number transfers and SIM swaps on the public record would provide competitors with access to commercially sensitive information, or insights that might allow them to derive such information, and which might allow them to develop new and more effective business plans and marketing strategies. In view of this, the specific direct harm of the disclosure of the data to other competitive mobile carriers also outweighs the public interest in disclosure,” the letter adds.
On the matter of holding a public hearing, the Commission’s letter says “a public vetting of the measures intended to address the issue of unauthorized mobile telephone number transfers and SIM swaps may provide fraudsters with information and time to circumvent them before their effectiveness can be tested or proven.”
In addition, a proceeding could lead to further delays in the implementation of protective measures, which could further increase the potential harm to the public, writes the Commission.
“While the Commission will not be initiating a Notice of Consultation proceeding at this time, Commission staff will continue to monitor the implementation and assess the effectiveness of the measures taken by the mobile carriers to curb unauthorized mobile telephone number transfers and SIM swaps,” the letter concludes.
