WhatsApp is one of the popular chat tools. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Summary
- CA is in search of a consultant to study and determine how the so-called over-the-top services (OTTS) operated by groups such as Facebook, which runs WhatsApp, and Skype owner Microsoft, could be regulated.
- The regulator wants to have some measure of control, much like it does with other traditional telecom products such as calls and phone text messages.
- Under CA regulation, owners of services such as WhatsApp and Skype will have to abide by “security and confidentiality provisions” demanded by law.
Kenya is considering regulating online services such as WhatsApp
and Skype in a radical move that could force the internet-based service
providers to share data with the government.
The
Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) is in search of a consultant to
study and determine how the so-called over-the-top services (OTTS)
operated by groups such as Facebook, which runs WhatsApp, and Skype
owner Microsoft, could be regulated.
The regulator
wants to have some measure of control, much like it does with other
traditional telecom products such as calls and phone text messages.
“Given that providers of OTTS are likely to gather their
subscribers’ data and may not be domiciled in Kenya,” the CA said in a
statement to the Business Daily.
The CA will study the
outcome and recommendations of the consultancy and decide on what
aspects it can implement as part of its regulatory mandate.
Under
CA regulation, owners of services such as WhatsApp and Skype will have
to abide by “security and confidentiality provisions” demanded by law.
The
laws could also centre on how the services comply with requests from
security agencies for release of data as it applies to operators like
Safaricom when directed by the courts.
At the moment, the OTTS fall into a legal grey area.
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The CA move comes as global regulators attempt to assert some
measure of control over the American companies that dominate the sector.
Regulators
in Europe argue that OTTS, which let users deliver calls and messages
via the internet, should be regulated in a similar way to the services
they have rapidly replaced, including text messaging and traditional
voice calling.
Big telecoms groups have for years
complained that the likes of Google, Microsoft and now Facebook benefit
from 'light-touch' regulation.
In Kenya, the increased
use of WhatsApp has been blamed for the drop in the number of messages
sent per month per subscriber in the recent years.
Latest
CA data show that subscribers on average sent 96.3 SMS monthly in the
period between January and March 2018, down from 156.8 SMS in the three
months to September 2017.
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