Editor's Review

It had been alleged that the company was sharing the location of people being sought by the authorities such as DCI.

Safaricom has broken silence after reports alleged that it aided the police in the recent abductions by sharing data of their customers with the authorities.

In a statement dated Thursday, October 31, the company denied the allegations.

Safaricom maintained that it abides by the laws that require telecommunication companies to safeguard the privacy of their customers.

It had been alleged that the company was sharing the location of people being sought by the authorities such as DCI.


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"We respect our customers' privacy and adhere strictly by the country’s data protection laws. As such we do not share any customer data unless explicitly required of us via a court order," read the statement in part.

"That for information purposes a customer’s Call Data Record (CDR) does not show any live location and movements of customers but is generated after a call is terminated and for text messages once they are sent or received and this is for purposes of billing only."

Further, the company indicated that it had integrated its systems with technologies that would prevent third parties from accessing the information of customers.

"That in July 2012, Safaricom onboarded Neural Technologies to implement a Fraud Management System (FMS) on all our business lines, including our mobile money system," the company noted in its statement.

"Neural Technologies is a global brand operating in over 30 countries providing support to telcos and utility companies to prevent and detect fraud with no third-party access."

Reports of Safaricom sharing data with the police emerged on October 29, following a story done by Nation.

The report caused an uproar among Kenyans and diplomats who called on the government to respect the privacy of Kenyans.

"I don't know enough about this issue yet. What I will say is that the laws of privacy and rule of law around the rights of a private citizen need to be respected in democracies," US Ambassador Meg Whitman stated.