Safaricom has addressed concerns raised by citizens that the company is assisting the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in tracking protesters who participated in the anti-finance bill protests.
In response, Safaricom dismissed these claims as mere rumors and assured the public that there was no truth to the allegations.
“Ata kama ni story za jaba, hapa hapana,” said the company.
The statement by the company follows a tweet by an X user who raised an alarm over the issue, alleging that the DCI was tracking and rounding up protestors with the company’s help.
“DCI are picking people one by one with the aid of Safaricom, folks are being tracked to their doorsteps.”
“It’s a reaction I anticipated from this regime, And I’ve kept tweeting that hii kitu, they’ll neuter it by all means,” remarked Maverick Aoko.
The company has also been under scrutiny for its privacy practices, particularly regarding its call notify service.
The Consumers Federation of Kenya (COFEK) issued a statement on June 22 addressing privacy concerns raised by citizens online.
COFEK Issues Statement Following Public Concern
In the statement, the Federation informed users that the service, which notifies users via SMS about missed calls, was using 0722188188 for call forwarding notifications.
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“The Safaricom PLC notification of subscribers via SMS when someone has tried to call them while they were unreachable – is using 0722188188 for call forwarding notifications,” read the statement.
COFEK emphasized that the service is a standard feature for notifying users about missed calls that can be disabled.
“The service is a standard feature for notifying users about missed calls and can be disabled by dialing ##62#.”
This clarification was made in response to concerns raised by users, regarding privacy and the forwarding of calls without consent.
User Raises Alarm over Potential Privacy Breaches
Earlier, a user named Psycho Sins had raised concerns, claiming that Safaricom was illegally forwarding calls to 0722188188 without users’ consent.
He claimed that the number belonged to the National Intelligence Service (NIS) which was a clear violation of users right to privacy.
“Dear Influencers/Mobilizers Safaricom allows NIS to illegally forward your calls to 0722188188 against your right to privacy.”
He further advised users to check if their calls have been forwarded by dialing *#62# and to remove forwarding by dialing ##62#.
“To check if your calls have been forwarded Dial *#62#. If your calls have been forwarded, dial ##62# to remove forwards,” said Psycho Sins.
Public Reactions to The Claims
This prompted mixed reaction from Kenyans, with some dismissing the claims as “Fake News” and others expressing outrage, saying their calls had been “tapped.”
“Fake News! That number is for the missed call alerts you get in case your phone is off. It’s an official Safaricom number,” said Saruni BM.
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“Mine was tapped! Goddamn! This is the price of revolting, but we don’t relent. Aluta continua! #totalshutdown,” said Abdul hakim.
In response, Safaricom reiterated that they do not share subscribers’ information with third parties and that the data processing is governed by their data protection policy.
The company further clarified that the 0722188188 number is used to send a message to callers when a subscriber’s phone is off or out of network coverage, and it has nothing to do with tracking.
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