Government to demand passport ID when buying mobile phones
Ξ October 20th, 2008 | → | ∇ Gadgets |
The UK government is hoping to increase its Orwellian surveillance of Britain with new plans to develop a compulsory national register of the 72m mobile phone users in the UK. This database is aimed to improve national security and combat terrorism.
The Times reveals that in order to do this, the government would demand that you would be required to show your passport (or other means of identification) at the point of purchase. This would crack down on current pay-as-you-go mobile phone contracts, which can be bought with cash and without signing over your identity details to any Big Brother institution.
Criminals and terrorists love PAYG because it allows them to conduct their nefarious practises without the Man being able to track them down. Surprisingly few have complained about the cost of contract-free handsets.
If by some absurd twist of logic you are a law abiding citizen that doesn’t particularly want the government tracking your calls, then we’re afraid you’ll be fresh out of luck if this bill goes through. If it makes you feel any better though, the spooks will be reading all your emails anyway.
Terrorists won’t be quite as put out, of course. They can either use false identities to acquire PAYG handsets, or they could pick one up abroad and bring it here. Or they could just buy a big handful of SIMs now before the scheme comes to fruition and stay well ahead of the game. And by the time those become obsolete, WiFi coverage will probably have spread far enough for them to be able to swap to anonymous VoIP services instead.
Fortunately, an outbreak of sense and reason inside Whitehall has led to the scheme being put on ice until next year.
