The prepaid phone cards issue

The issue of prepaid phone cards from Romania allegedly used in masterminding the latest string of terror attacks has sparked off heated debates of late.

Florentin Căpitănescu, 31.03.2016, 14:08

Against the backdrop of the terror attacks that have rocked Paris and Brussels in the past months, talks on security, the battle against terrorism and ways to prevent it, have gained a new dimension, even in Romania. A statement made by Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos, after the Brussels attacks, has rekindled, after a year and a half, the debate on the use of prepaid phone cards. According to the Prime Minister, prepaid phone cards from Romania — one of the few EU countries still selling them without checking the buyer’s identity –have allegedly been used in masterminding the attacks in the European Union.

The moment chosen by PM Ciolos for making this statement, shortly after the attacks in Belgium, and the absence of further details, has given the impression that prepaid phone cards from Romania could have been used in preparation for the latest terror attacks. Under the circumstances, the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI), a staunch supporter of the idea that buyers should reveal their identity upon purchasing prepaid phone cards, said that the institution together with its western partners are investigating the sale of such cards in areas with terrorist activity.

The SRI has also announced that recent information indicate that threats at some transport infrastructures in Europe have recently been made from prepaid phone cards. On the other hand, the present debate is a good opportunity for the SRI to raise the prepaid phone cards issue again. In the fall of 2014, the Constitutional Court ruled that the law that makes compulsory the presentation of an ID card upon purchasing prepaid phone cards, did not offer sufficient guarantees that personal data would not be stored in a manner likely to violate people’s right to privacy. Furthermore the Court mentioned a European Commission conclusion, under which at that time, the measure failed to yield the desired results in the member states that had enforced it.

However, things have changed lately as the terrorist attacks have struck fear and pain deep into the heart of Europe, in places long known for their safety. And since desperate times call for desperate measures, western pundits believe that terrorism could be kept at bay only through radical changes, in both European and local legislation. The obligation to provide personal data upon purchasing prepaid phone cards might even be regulated through a European directive.

(Translated by D. Bilt)