Passport Required To Buy Mobile Phones In the UK

Bob Hubbard

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Passport Required To Buy Mobile Phones In the UK 2008-10-19 11:14

Posted by Soulskill on Sunday October 19, @11:14AM
from the and-dna-samples-for-special-ringtones dept.

David Gerard points out a Times Online story that says: "Everyone [in the UK] who buys a mobile telephone will be forced to register their identity on a national database under government plans to extend massively the powers of state surveillance. Phone buyers would have to present a passport or other official form of identification at the point of purchase. Privacy campaigners fear it marks the latest government move to create a surveillance society. A compulsory national register for the owners of all 72m mobile phones in Britain would be part of a much bigger database to combat terrorism and crime. Whitehall officials have raised the idea of a register containing the names and addresses of everyone who buys a phone in recent talks with Vodafone and other telephone companies, insiders say." We've recently discussed other methods the UK government is using to keep track of people within its borders, such as ID cards for foreigners and comprehensive email surveillance.
 
While that makes complete sense from a national security point of view, if that were to happen in America, it might be a problem and might be considered an obstacle to one's pursuit of happiness (some people would prefer to "live off the grid") but still be able to communicate via cell phone.
 
To me, it's nuts. But this is a nation that supposedly has detector vans roaming around looking for unlicenced tv's.
 
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