A Nairobi High Court blocked the recycling of registered mobile phone numbers without consent, stating that they constitute a digital identifier linking personal data that relates to an individual’s private affairs.

The court has declared that mobile phone numbers contain personal data and thus qualify for protection under Articles 31(c) & (d) of the Constitution to safeguard the right not to have information relating to private affairs unnecessarily disclosed.

The declaration stems from a petition filed by Erastus Ngura Odhiambo on June 10, 2024, challenging the reassignment or recycling of the deactivated but previously registered mobile telephone numbers owing to an extended period of inactivity or non-use.

The petitioner contended that those numbers constitute an individual’s digital identity that provides linkage to delicate personal information, of which a substantial risk of exposure to 3rd parties is created by their unfettered reassignment, constituting an unconstitutional violation of the right to privacy.

Odhiambo, a prisoner serving a 20-year sentence for the offence of murder, avers that digital identity has become an integral component in today’s economy, and this has opened new opportunities in all sectors that now offer services through digitised processes.

 Justice Mugambi’s order

Justice Lawrence Mugambi, on Thursday, March 19, 2026, ordered the Attorney General (AG), together with the relevant departments, to take the appropriate measures to safeguard digital identity associated with the registered mobile telephone number against deactivation, reassignment or recycling.

“A mandatory order is hereby issued, directing the Attorney General, within six months from the date of this judgement and in collaboration with all relevant departments (including but not limited to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, the Communication Authority of Kenya and the relevant ministry), to take all necessary and appropriate measures to safeguard digital identity associated with the registered mobile telephone number against unfettered deactivation and subsequent arbitrary reassignment or recycling,” Judge Mugambi ruled.

The court has also ordered that the measures put in place by the relevant departments should ensure reassignment of any deactivated and previously registered number shall only be possible if there is the previous registered owner’s informed and given consent for the same.

Assigning only after notice expiry

Notably, the reassignment of any deactivated numbers shall only happen after the expiry of a reasonable period following the issuance of public notice, which must be preceded by a thorough, documented verification process aimed at confirming the original registered owner cannot be located.

The AG and the relevant departments have also been ordered to ensure technical safeguards are put in place and implemented to prevent unauthorised exposure or transfer of personal data linked to the previously registered owner to third parties upon reassignment or recycling of the number.