The case of the young Egyptian Amr Emara (19 years old) has sparked wide controversy over the dangers of registering mobile lines with the data of citizens who know nothing about them, after a ruling was issued against him in absentia sentencing him to life imprisonment, 25 years, in a drug-trafficking case linked to a mobile phone SIM card registered in his name without his knowledge.
The case gained new momentum over the past few days, coinciding with the launch of the “Arqami” service within the My NTRA application of the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, a service that enabled citizens to inquire about the mobile lines registered with their data, and some users were surprised to find numbers they did not know and had never contracted for. This raised questions about the mechanisms for verifying subscribers’ identity, the rules for registering lines, and the adequacy of the procedures in force to prevent the use of citizens’ data without their knowledge.
The danger of these incidents lies in the legal and security consequences of a phone number being linked to the data of a person who has not actually used it, as the owner of the data may become subject to accountability or suspicion if the line is used to commit a crime or an illegal activity. While the current system allows citizens to discover the numbers registered in their names, the more important questions remain unanswered: how these lines were registered in the first place, which body is responsible for verifying the accuracy of the contracting party’s data, and what mechanisms exist to lift responsibility from a citizen if it is proven that they have no connection to the line.
Commenting on this, the human rights lawyer and head of the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights, Malek Adly, says that the crisis is extremely serious, given that these services are linked to official identity data, whether the national ID number or the passport, and the legal and security consequences that may result from their misuse.
Adly explains that these tools can be used to commit cybercrimes, as a person may resort to using a phone line registered in the name of another citizen to commit crimes, including insult and defamation, blackmail or threats. He notes that when the incident is investigated, the Information Technology Crimes Investigation Department traces the line used to commit it, which may lead to the officially registered owner of the line, despite their having no connection to the incident or any knowledge that the line was being used at all.
He stresses, in statements to Zawia3, the need for citizens, as soon as they discover that a phone line has been registered in their name without their knowledge, to promptly notify the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and the Information Technology Crimes Investigation Department, so that the necessary measures are taken and they can prove that they have no connection to the line or to the uses made of it.
He adds that telecommunications companies set strict rules and controls for issuing or renewing phone lines, and therefore the occurrence of cases of lines being registered in citizens’ names without their knowledge may indicate loopholes in the mechanisms for applying those controls, which requires uncovering the nature of these loopholes, determining responsibility for them and working to prevent their recurrence.
Adly points out that registering lines in other people’s names may happen in multiple contexts, some of which may occur in good faith, such as a person handing his identity card to another to help him obtain a phone line and then not following up on the matter, or asking someone to obtain a line in his name and more than one line being issued, in addition to the possibility that some distributors resort to practices aimed at meeting sales targets, or that some people deal in issuing lines using identity cards belonging to others.
He believes that the multiplicity of these scenarios reveals a problem relating to the internal working mechanisms of telecommunications companies, and calls for a review of the procedures for issuing lines and verifying the identity of customers, so as to ensure that citizens are not held responsible for a line they did not obtain or agree to have registered in their name.
If a citizen discovers that they have become a defendant in a case because of a phone line registered in their name without their knowledge, Adly explains that the matter is dealt with as a criminal incident that requires the person to prove that they have no connection to the line or to the crime under investigation, because the existence of a line registered in the citizen’s name in the context of a crime may lead to suspicion falling on them and to their being summoned or arrested for investigation, before they are required to prove that the line was obtained or used fraudulently by another person.
He points out that among the means of proving this are reviewing the line’s sale contract kept by the telecommunications company and verifying the signature attributed to the registered name holder, which may help prove that the contract was not concluded with their knowledge or consent, in addition to examining the line’s usage data and tracking its locations during the period in which the crime took place, which helps identify the actual user of the line and rule out any connection between the person in whose name it is registered and the incident.
Solutions on Parliament’s Table
MP Ahmed Badawi, head of the Communications and Information Technology Committee in the House of Representatives, tells Zawia3 that the issue of mobile lines registered with incorrect data or in people’s names without their knowledge has previously been discussed by the committee, noting that parliament has set out a number of recommendations to deal with this problem and limit its recurrence, most notably the need to update mobile phone line data periodically, so as to ensure that the line in use is actually linked to its owner and to limit the existence of lines registered in the names of people who do not use them.
He adds that updating data periodically reduces the chances of lines registered with outdated data continuing to be used, explaining that if a line user is asked to update their data and does not do so, the line can be suspended, which ensures that line data are reviewed continuously.
The head of the Communications Committee points to the importance of the continued operation of the applications and electronic mechanisms that allow citizens to inquire about the lines registered in their names, affirming that periodically reviewing the lines linked to the national ID number has become a necessity to make sure that registered lines are actually in the possession of their owners and that they are actually using them.
Badawi notes that the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority has already taken a number of measures relating to updating mobile line data, in addition to examining and investigating some of the reports and complaints submitted over the past few days about lines registered in citizens’ names without their knowledge.
Regarding citizens who discover lines registered in their names without their knowledge, Badawi says that the relevant bodies, foremost among them the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and the General Administration for Information Technology, are dealing with these incidents and following up on the reports received about them, affirming that the House of Representatives, through the Communications Committee, is following the measures taken on this file, and noting that parliament is setting out its recommendations on this matter, in parallel with a legislative move aimed at addressing aspects of the problem.
Badawi reveals that anticipated legislative amendments are being prepared for discussion next October, including the addition of clauses to the Information Technology Law, with the aim of toughening penalties in cases of manipulation and the use of mobile phone lines in violation of the law, thereby strengthening the legal controls related to the use of lines and limiting their misuse.
According to the monthly report issued by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the number of mobile phone subscriptions in Egypt rose to about 126.91 million lines at the end of May 2026, compared with 116.79 million lines in May 2025, an increase of 10.12 million lines in one year and an annual growth rate of 8.67%.
Growing Public Anger
In recent days, social media has been flooded with appeals and complaints from angry citizens after inquiries via My Ntra revealed mobile lines registered in their names without their knowledge: some users were surprised to find three or four lines, others discovered five or more, and for some the number reached ten lines registered to their national ID number, even though they insist they never obtained or used these lines at any time.
Mohamed El-Sayed (29 years old), from Giza Governorate, tells Zawia3 that when he inquired about the lines registered in his name, he was surprised to find three numbers that he had never obtained or used, explaining: “I did not know these lines existed in the first place, I did not apply for them, and I do not know who registered them in my name or who is using them now. What worries me is that these lines are officially linked to my personal data, even though I have nothing to do with them.”
As for Sahar Abdel Rahman, from Sohag Governorate, she discovered two mobile lines registered in her name, even though she had not used them or known of their existence. She adds to Zawia3 that she had been outside the country for a period with her husband in one of the Gulf states and has not used any mobile lines for more than ten years, and did not expect any lines to bear her name, affirming that she used the application just to try it out, and that she will take legal action against the company, as she has proof of her presence outside the country during that period.
The situation is not much different for engineer Shaaban Ali, who says he was surprised to find five lines registered in his name, even though he had been outside Egypt for a long period and was not using mobile lines inside the country during that time. He explains: “I was outside the country and did not use any Egyptian mobile line during that period, so I was surprised when I found five lines registered in my name. What concerns me now is finding out how these lines were registered, who was using them, and whether I could be held responsible for any use made of them even though I knew nothing about them. I fear that they may have been used to commit crimes, so I will take all legal measures to protect myself and my family.”
Owing to the increasing pressure on the “Arqami” service, many citizens were unable to obtain the OTP code needed to register, and Mohamed Ibrahim, the executive deputy head of the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and its official spokesperson, said that the authority is working on a permanent technical solution for the “Arqami” service via the My NTRA application, which is scheduled to be announced within a month at most.
He added in televised statements that a temporary solution had been applied that allowed the service to return to normal operation, pending the completion of the technical and regulatory updates being carried out and the introduction of a biometric verification feature to make sure that the person making the inquiry is the cardholder himself, and not any other person using one of the lines registered in his name.
The My NTRA application is an official interactive application issued by the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority in Egypt, which aims to facilitate telecommunications services for individuals and companies, raise their awareness of their rights and obligations, and enable them to carry out many services without the need to visit company branches or call customer service centres.
Ibrahim explained that the application has more than 7 million users, noting that existing users with activated accounts can use the “Arqami” service directly without entering the OTP code.
Activating Facial Recognition: An Attempt to Contain the Crisis
In an attempt to contain the crisis amid mounting public pressure, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority announced yesterday, Friday, the activation of mechanisms to verify the identity of users of its services, by updating the “My NTRA” application to rely on facial recognition technology when buying mobile lines or accessing the “Arqami” service, while the executive deputy head of the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority said in televised statements that the measure aims to ensure that the person accessing line data is the officially registered owner, preventing users’ data from being made available to others.
He also explained that the authority had discovered that some mobile line holders could access information about numbers registered in the names of other people if they knew the national ID number of the line’s owner, which led it to suspend the service temporarily to carry out technical updates.
He noted that after the update, the authority made the service available again through a temporary technical solution that masks the digits in the middle of the phone number, while keeping parts of it that allow the user to recognise their lines. This allows citizens to confirm whether unknown lines are registered in their name, without fully revealing the numbers of lines linked to other people.
He explained that the authority’s measures stop at securing inquiries about lines, as it calls on citizens to review the numbers registered in their names periodically and to take the necessary measures if they discover lines that do not belong to them, noting that a citizen can buy up to 10 lines from each of the four telecommunications companies.
He also stressed the need to regularise the status of lines used by people other than those in whose names they are officially registered, especially lines registered in the name of one of the parents and used by the children, by transferring ownership after they reach the legal age.
The Legal Solution?
Counsellor Mahmoud El-Roubi, a legal expert and lawyer before the High Court of Appeal, tells Zawia3 that registering mobile phone lines in citizens’ names without their knowledge or consent is not merely a procedural violation, but poses a direct threat to the citizen’s electronic identity, and may turn their personal data into a tool that perpetrators of digital crimes can exploit.
He explains that the phone number has become one of the main keys to digital identity, because it is linked to bank accounts, e-wallets, social media platforms, government services, financial applications and electronic verification methods, and therefore the use of a number registered in a person’s name without their knowledge may entail serious legal and technical consequences for them, even in the absence of any actual connection between them and the incident.
El-Roubi adds that the danger is not linked merely to issuing the line, but to what it may later be used for, from creating e-wallets and carrying out fraud to sending phishing messages, impersonation, running fake accounts or committing information crimes, which may place the data owner under suspicion until investigations are concluded and it is proven that they have no relation to the line or to the incidents linked to its use.
He also explains that the Egyptian legislator has established legal frameworks to confront these risks, including the Anti-Cyber and Information Technology Crimes Law No. 175 of 2018 and the Personal Data Protection Law No. 151 of 2020, which regulates the protection of personal data from being collected, processed or used in violation of the law whenever its provisions apply to the incident.
The legal expert warns that the expanding reliance on personal data makes protecting it part of digital security, and that any flaw in the procedures for verifying the identity of those contracting for telecommunications lines can provide a suitable environment for cybercrimes that may develop into financial crimes or organised crime, and whose effects may even extend to cross-border criminal activity.
The risks increase, according to El-Roubi, with the rapid development of artificial intelligence technologies, which have made available more sophisticated tools for impersonation and for carrying out fraudulent calls and messages, making an illegally registered line a potential entry point into a wider system of digital crime.
El-Roubi calls for a review of the mobile line registration system and the tightening of procedures for verifying the identity of the person requesting the service, while obliging telecommunications companies to notify citizens as soon as any new line is registered in their name, and providing a fast and effective mechanism for reporting and cancelling lines that do not belong to them.
He also stresses that the digital transformation cannot achieve its goals without building a reliable system for protecting citizens’ data, considering that “trust in technology is built through legal and regulatory safeguards that prevent its misuse before the crime takes place”, and calling on telecommunications companies to consider applying biometric verification technologies, including facial recognition, when registering mobile lines, as they are among the mechanisms known worldwide for strengthening the verification of the identity of the person requesting the service and limiting the registration of lines with incorrect data.
In conclusion, the crisis of lines registered in citizens’ names without their knowledge does not stop at discovering unknown numbers through an electronic application, but reveals a wider loophole relating to how the citizen’s digital identity is protected, and who bears responsibility when their data are used to obtain a service they did not request, and that service then becomes a gateway to a criminal incident.
Editorial correction: The first version of the report stated that the number of mobile lines in May 2025 stood at 116.70 million lines; the correct figure is 116.79 million lines, consistent with the increase of 10.12 million lines and the growth rate of 8.67%.
