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Mexico links 68 million phone lines to combat crime; Sheinbaum denies control intentions
🇲🇽 Mexico /Crime & Justice

Mexico links 68 million phone lines to combat crime; Sheinbaum denies control intentions

From El Universal · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Mexico has linked 68 million phone lines, primarily focusing on prepaid numbers, to combat fraud and extortion.
  • The initiative aims to reduce crimes committed via phone, with companies holding the data, not the government.
  • Authorities can only access records with a judge's order, ensuring privacy while strengthening national security.

Mexico has successfully linked 68 million phone lines, a significant step towards curbing fraud and extortion, according to José Antonio Peña Merino, head of the Digital Transformation and Telecommunications Agency. The effort primarily targets prepaid numbers, with an estimated 40 million already registered and more to follow by December's deadline.

The objective is to reduce crimes committed through the phone to the maximum.

— Claudia Sheinbaum PardoPresident Sheinbaum addressed concerns that the phone line linking initiative could be used for government control.

President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo clarified that the government's intention is not to "control all people" but to "reduce crimes committed through the phone to the maximum." She emphasized that the telephone companies, not the government, store the registration data. This ensures that authorities can only access subscriber information with a judicial order, a measure designed to protect privacy while enhancing security.

The government does not keep the records, the telephone companies keep them.

— Claudia Sheinbaum PardoPresident Sheinbaum clarified the data storage protocols for the linked phone lines.

The initiative aims to bolster national security by making it harder for criminals to operate anonymously. The government maintains that the data remains with the service providers, and access by intelligence agencies at state or federal levels is strictly regulated by judicial authorization. This approach seeks to balance the need for security with the protection of citizens' personal information.

Essentially to strengthen security in our country, that is the objective.

— José Antonio Peña MerinoThe head of the Digital Transformation and Telecommunications Agency explained the core purpose of the phone line registration.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El Universal in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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