Privacy Rights and Prepaid Mobile Phones
A concern of police and security agencies worldwide is that prepaid mobile services allow the user to be anonymous and therefore facilitate criminal, or terrorist activities. Prepaid phone users can be anonymous for two reasons:
- the prepaid SIM card can be sold in a shop like any other goods. There is no need to register them at point of sale, unlike postpaid phones who have to credit check the user before allowing them to purchase and enter into a contract.
- Because prepaid services can often be topped up using cash and vouchers, there is no way to trace the payment and hence determine the identity of a prepaid phone user from payment records.
It has been suggested that a solution to this problem is to register the users of prepaid mobile phones. Such legislation faces heavy opposition from providers and consumers of prepaid service, as many consumers who desire privacy for legitimate purposes or simply by personal preference find anonymity to be the primary selling point of prepaid phones. According to a 2005 study 9 of 24 surveyed OECD countries require prepaid mobile users to register. These countries are Australia, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Norway, Slovak Republic, South Africa and Switzerland.
The freedom and privacy allowed by prepaid cell phones might help circumvent government oppression and censorship, allowing improved reporting and coordination of dissidents under oppressive regimes.
While there is no doubt that criminals and terrorists use telecommunication services, to date there has been no public study that has clearly examined the possible link of non-registration of prepaid mobile phones to greater risk of criminal or terrorist activities. However, mandatory registration may be a breach of a prepaid user privacy, and currently the question various jurisdictions have decided on or are examining is whether this privacy breach is an appropriate action versus the threat that anonymous usage of prepaid services pose.
Read more about this topic: Prepaid Mobile Phone
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