User Experiences with Third-Party SIM Cards and ID Registration in Kenya and Tanzania

(2) Carnegie Mellon University); Assane Gueye (1) ((1) Carnegie Mellon University - Africa; Conrad Tucker (2); Edith Luhanga (1); Giulia Fanti (2); Karen Sowon (2); Lorrie Faith Cranor (2)

User Experiences with Third-Party SIM Cards and ID Registration in Kenya and Tanzania

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arxiv 2311.00830 v1 pith:HT4GA77Q submitted 2023-11-01 cs.HC

Edith Luhanga (1) , Karen Sowon (2) , Lorrie Faith Cranor (2) , Giulia Fanti (2) , Conrad Tucker (2) , Assane Gueye (1) ((1) Carnegie Mellon University - Africa , (2) Carnegie Mellon University) This is my paper · ORCID

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keywords third-partycardscontributefinancialhighlightidentificationkenyaprivacy

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Mobile money services in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have increased access to financial services. To ensure proper identification of users, countries have put in place Know-Your-Customer (KYC) measures such as SIM registration using an official identification. However, half of the 850 million people without IDs globally live in SSA, and the use of SIM cards registered in another person's name (third-party SIM) is prevalent. In this study, we explore challenges that contribute to and arise from the use of third-party SIM cards. We interviewed 36 participants in Kenya and Tanzania. Our results highlight great strides in ID accessibility, but also highlight numerous institutional and social factors that contribute to the use of third-party SIM cards. While privacy concerns contribute to the use of third-party SIM cards, third-party SIM card users are exposed to significant security and privacy risks, including scams, financial loss, and wrongful arrest.

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Design and Evaluation of Privacy-Preserving Protocols for Agent-Facilitated Mobile Money Services in Kenya
cs.CR 2024-12 accept novelty 6.0 of 10

A role-play and interview study with 32 users and 15 agents in Kenya finds that privacy-preserving KYC protocols based on biometrics and one-time codes are preferred over current ID-sharing practices, though deploymen...

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