Data-sharing is still one phenomenon that still has lots of confusion around it. However, it looks like many are taking advantage of the public’s and now Safaricom might be the latest victim.

A social media post has been making rounds claiming that Safaricom has allowed the National Intelligence Service (NIS) to illegally forward your calls. As reported by The Star, the post has been verified as false.

The post was largely shared on WhatsApp groups saying, “Safaricom allows NIS to illegally forward your call to 0722188188 against your right to privacy… To check if your call has been forwarded dial *#62#”.

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Once you dial the code *#62#, a message pops up informing you that you have been enrolled to call forwarding services. The post goes further to instruct readers to dial ##62# to remove forwards if they wish to get rid of the forwarded messages.

When you dial this code, another pop-up message appears showing that you opted out of the so-called services.  So, it is quite easy for users to get convinced that the call notify services are actually legit when they really aren’t.

Investigation on the claims shows that in a 2017 post on Twitter Safaricom notifies its customers that the number 0722188188 is for Call Notify Service while 0722199199 diverts to Voicemail.

While Safaricom can be obligated by law to share their subscribers’ information with law enforcement agencies, these messages are there to just incite people.

Considering the responses that one gets after dialling the USSD codes it’s quite clear that the service is just a call notification service and not a secret security intelligence-gathering technique.

You should also be careful before signing in to such services as they can access your information.