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Swiss to Name Mobile Phone Users
elmacho writes "In what is surely a knee-jerk reaction, the Swiss parliament has banned anonymous mobile phone usage following the revelations that Al Qaeda members were using the phones in other countries. Wasn't it established the other day that, considering they were caught, the anonymity provided by the phones is limited? What purpose will this serve, assuming that any terrorists who need a mobile phone will simply purchase one in another of the many countries that do provide anonymous mobiles?"
Mobile phone theft, ID spoofing, and black market handset sales in Switzerland skyrocket.
Because of course now that anonymous cell phone usage is illegal, only criminals can protect their IDs on cell phones.
Operator, give me the number for 911!
> What purpose will this serve, assuming that any terrorists who need a mobile phone will simply purchase one in another of the many countries that do provide anonymous mobiles?
What purpose does outlawing child pornography serve? People could just go to a country that doesn't outlaw child pornography.
Point being -- people don't want it happening in their own backyard and they don't want it happening on their watch. I sympathize with this sentiment.
Think of it this way - there are lots of stupid, yet successful criminals out there. These criminals may not yet know or understand that they can be tracked via anonymous phone usage.
By illegalizing anonymous cell phones, the Swiss Gov't is simply saying to the criminals, "Hey, we know what a tough business it is keeping up with all the cloak and dagger stuff you guys have to do to stay free. Rather than letting you fall on your sword, er, cell phone, and get caught, we'll keep up with the latest technology others are employing against you, and ban common thieving tools which are vulnerable, thus saving you valuable time which you can spend in more productive pursuits, such as larceny, or our favorite, GTA 3."
The upside for criminals is that they'll have to work a little harder to get an anonymous or fake identity phone, but echelon will now have to check a much larger pool of phones for suspicious activity, instead of focusing most of its efforts on anonymous phones.
The upside is that switzerland != the world, so anonymous phones are still available elsewhere.
-Adam
Um, 14 of the 15 hijackers weren't caught.
Hey if you arent doing anything wrong, then you have nothing to fear from the government watching your every move right?
Its all in the name of national security so its all ok, right?
Now dont you feel so much safer now that you have given up another bit of personal freedom?
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Example 1: I don't want a cell phone. I hate - no, I detest - cell phones. But my job requires me to do quite a bit of traveling. That prepaid cellphone I can pick up at Walgreens for 10 bucks and toss into my glove box gives me a little comfort when I'm on the road. If my car breaks down, I can get in touch with AAA, but I don't have to pay for some bogus monthly plan that I'll never use.
Example 2: I work for a large, multinational corporation. I've repeatedly witnessed my boss discriminating against minority coworkers by assigning the good clients to my fellow white coworkers. I want to blow the whistle, and it's going to require a bit of back-and-forth communication between me and several newspaper columnists. Unfortunately, my employer nets billions of dollars per year and could easily afford a little "internal investigation" - I don't want these calls showing up on my cell phone bill.
Example 3: I'm a battered wife who finally decided she's not going to take it anymore. I left my abusive husband and temporarily moved in with a friend he doesn't know, but my husband hired a private investigator to track me down. I'm afraid that if I get a cell phone in my name, the P.I. will be able to find the billing address and come do me harm. I'm also afraid that even if I put the cell phone in my friend's name, the P.I. could get the phone records of my associates and see who's calling them, then backtrack and find me.
Example 4: I'm a volunteer coordinator for the American Cancer Society. We've arranged a 5K walk in my city to raise money for cancer research. We're going to have 20 volunteers assigned to various "stop stations" along the route, passing out water and granola bars to the participants. If anyone runs out of supplies at their station, they need to be able to contact me at the "base camp" so that I can send more. We looked into buying 20 CB or FRS-band radios, but those were pricing at 75 to 100 bucks apiece. It would be much more cost efficient to provide each of them with a disposable cell phone, but we don't believe it's necessary to have to "register" for them.
Example 5: I'm a regular guy, just like you. I'd like a cell phone, but I'd rather not have the cell phone company knowing who I am. I don't want them sending me junk mail, I don't want them calling my home number twice a week trying to get me to upgrade my plan, and I don't want them selling my name and address to their affiliates. I just like my privacy and I'd like to have a little convenience without having to sell my soul to marketdroids in the process.
It took me about 2 minutes to come up with these examples (longer to type them out). Do you need more?Absolutely. <sarcasm>And because payphones are so profitable to the telcos, they're putting more and more of them up all over the place! They love collecting 35 cents a few times a month from people who have to make unexpected calls, instead of charging those people 35 bucks a month for a cell phone they rarely use.</sarcasm> I don't know about Switzerland, but here in the US, payphones are a dying breed. It used to be, every gas station had one outside, and every shopping mall had a bank of them near the restrooms. These days, to be honest I wouldn't know where to find a payphone if I needed one.
If you don't see any need or justification for anonymous cell phones, why do you see a need or justification for (not to mention suggest using) payphones? Tracing a cellphone to a particular location is, at least in terms of technology, just as easy as tracing a payphone to a particular location. And don't payphones provide the "bad guys" with just as much opportunity to make anonymous calls?Why not? For the record, I'm not complaining, nor do I have or want a cell phone. I just can't see why anonymity is a negative thing.
Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!