The Abshir electronic service of the Interior Ministry on Wednesday started documenting the ownership of the mobile phone numbers for both citizens and expatriates. Tariq Al-Shidi, director of the ministry's National Information Center, said Saudis and expatriates can now, at any time and anywhere in the Kingdom, document the ownership of their mobile phone numbers on the Abshir service instead of going to the offices of the communication companies to do the fingerprinting. He said the subscription in Abshir can be made through the link: www.moi.gov.sa. The director said: "Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Naif, the deputy premier and interior minister, had directed the center to find a mechanism that would enable the citizens and expatriates document the ownership of their mobile phones whether it is post-paid or pre-paid." He said it took the center one week only to find this mechanism through Abshir. With this service, both the citizen or resident, can now avoid long queues of mobile phone subscribers outside telecom offices and outlets. In January, Saudi Arabia started fingerprinting anyone looking to buy a SIM card and those already having a SIM card as a security measure. Fingerprint data will be shared with the National Information Center to "confirm the identity of the buyer." The law was initially passed on Sept. 2, 2015 after the Ministry of Interior requested the authorities to step up efforts to stop people using mobile phones for purposes that "threaten national security". All mobile phone companies must comply with the new rules on purchasing SIM cards.
