Finance Bill demos: Safaricom denies disclosing Kenyans’ information to gov’t

Safaricom on Tuesday said it has not shared its customers’ information with the government amid increased arrests in what is seen as the state’s suppression of Kenyans opposing the unpopular Finance Bill 2024.

Social media users accused the telecommunications company of conniving with the police in sharing customers’ location information to track Kenyans. This came after tens of vocal protesters were arrested in the lead-up to Tuesday’s demos.

As a result, Kenyans threatened to boycott the network provider.

But in a statement, Safaricom said it respects its customers' privacy and adheres to Kenya’s data protection laws.

The Data Protection Act requires data processors and controllers to safeguard digital and physical personal data from unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction.

“We do not share any customer data unless explicitly required of us via a court order. On the current issue in discussion, we confirm that we have not received any court order requiring us to share customer information with any government agency,” the telco said.

Safaricom controls the largest market share in Kenya with an active mobile subscription of 44 million, according to a December 2023 report by the Communications Authority of Kenya.

It is followed by Airtel at 18 million while Telkom has 2 million.

Equitel and Jamii Telco have 1 million and 456,000 active subscribers respectively.