Peru seeks powers to track and block phones

Peru’s executive branch sent Congress a bill seeking 120 days of legislative authority that would add citizen security measures tied to tracking, location, geolocation, control, logging, traceability, line suspension and blocking of mobile devices and other electronic devices used unlawfully. The proposal was formally introduced by the PCM in the Chamber of Deputies as part of a package of 66 requests, and it has already been approved by the Council of Ministers.

What does the request for powers include?

The request covers citizen security, state modernization and administrative simplification, according to the Council of Ministers and reporting from El Peruano. In the security section, Guik.pe said the proposal includes tracking, location, geolocation, control, logging, traceability, line suspension and blocking of devices used unlawfully.

Infobae added that one change to the telecom regime would aim to speed up the identification, geolocation and blocking of phones and mobile devices used unlawfully from prisons and juvenile centers. In the same vein, El Comercio said the broader use of tracking and geolocation tools could affect how communications data is handled and could create compliance obligations for operators and providers tied to cybersecurity and electronic surveillance.

What other measures did the coverage mention?

The coverage also reported a broader security agenda inside the same request for powers. Infobae said it would include the creation of a post-prison supervised release registry for high-risk inmates as a monitoring mechanism after they leave the penal system.

The same outlet also reported that the head of the PCM publicly defended the urgency of the delegated powers in citizen security and said intelligence services should have operations that are not available today to detect criminal gangs in time. El Comercio, for its part, said the bill before the bicameral Congress includes measures that would reach law enforcement intervention and the DINI.

How does it fit into the government’s administrative agenda?

The request is not limited to security and also includes state modernization and administrative simplification, according to Agenda País, Diario Las Américas and El Peruano. Agenda País said the executive branch would send Congress a package of 66 reforms under this 120-day delegation framework.

At the same time, Supreme Decree No. 123-2026-PCM was endorsed by the President of the Council of Ministers and several cabinet ministers, according to Actualidad Civil. The cited text presents it as an executive-branch measure with possible impact on security, defense and communications policy, although that publication does not spell out any specific cybersecurity or data protection content.

What precedent appears in data protection?

The recent update to Regulation of Law 29733 on personal data protection appears as relevant regulatory context for reading this package of measures, according to La Cámara. The material provided does not list the specific articles of the regulation, but it does present the update as a useful reference point for measures that expand tracking, geolocation and the handling of communications information.

The contrast between the two discussions, the request for powers and the strengthening of the data regulation, is laid out in the available coverage itself. The material does not include an official definition of how both agendas will be reconciled, nor a final breakdown of any specific requirements for operators and service providers.