An employee of an American private sector organization who traveled to Bogota, Colombia in April noted unique security measures being imposed on the purchase of SIM cards for cell phones. When the employee went to a local cell phone store to purchase a SIM card, the manager informed him that he would need to be fingerprinted before the purchase could be completed. Although this seemed like an unusual and suspicious requirement, the employee acquiesced. Upon returning to the United States, he reported the incident to his security director who reported it to the Regional Security Office at U.S. Embassy Bogota and to another private sector contact. Both parties verified that this procedure was legitimate and commonplace in Colombia.

The traveler involved believes it would be useful for other members of the U.S. private sector to be aware of this procedure as it is dissimilar enough to U.S. cell phone procedures to reasonably arouse suspicion. This incident also highlights the importance of information sharing when operating in a new environment.