The government has approved a project to introduce a unified database of IMEI codes. At first glance, it sounds technical and innocent: “fighting against the shadows”, “preventing phone theft”.
1. A huge database will be created where your passport and personal data, your phone code (IMEI) and all your SIM/eSIM cards will be linked. This is not just a tax instrument. this enables the state to see at any time who is active on the network, with which device and when.
2. If that database containing data of 2.5 million users crashes every minute, the operators will have to disconnect your connection. And we know how state databases work, for example, the registration database for first graders, which was supposed to serve only 20,000 parents at the same time this week, but it simply did not work.
3. There is a dangerous point in the design: the Administrator can provide “other digital services” to state and local bodies or even private companies with the data of this database. In other words, the data collected allegedly for the purpose of “combating smuggling” may be used tomorrow for completely different purposes unknown to us.
4. Centralization of telephones and citizens’ data of the entire country in one place is a dream for any cyber criminal. If this base is breached (and there are no invulnerable systems), everyone’s security will be at stake.
And now the most important thing. the authors of the project claim that this will help against theft. Let’s be honest.
How many of you or your friends have had this happen to you? the phone was stolen, you contacted the police with the box and IMEI code, but you did not receive any help. Meanwhile, my heart tells me that if we are talking about protesters or critical journalists, they will find out the place by IMEI in five minutes and make a mask show.
Information security expert Arthur Papyan
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