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China Demands Real Names From Mobile Phone Users
itwbennett writes "Starting this month, mobile carriers in China are requiring people who set up new mobile phone accounts to register with their real names as part of a new government measure to reduce anonymity among the country's 800 million mobile users. And within 3 years, the carriers must also register the real identities of all existing users, said China Telecom spokesman Xu Fei. The new policy comes as China has been pushing users to register with their real names online. In August, online gamers had to begin real-name registration under regulations that are meant to protect minors from Internet addiction and 'unhealthy' content."
The most common name of Chinese children will become Fuk Yu.
... and then they built the supercollider.
India has been doing this for years. It's not possible to get a sim card without a valid 'proof' of your identity. It's another matter that if the terrorists really want to get a sim card, this requirement wont stop them - as it's very easy to get forged documents.
I seem to recall AT&T demanding my social security number when I signed up.
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
1. Register for a cell phone with the real name of someone you hate.
2. Commit a crime with the cell phone.
3. ???????????
4. PROFIT!!!!
Seem to recall having an issue getting a SIM in England, but it's been a while...
What surprises me is that China wasn't /already/ doing this.
Sent from my PDP-11
I wonder if Governments will start to clamp down on anonymous use of public phones, by requiring credit cards or pre paid cards with ID.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
So Obi-Wan has a private transaction and sells his phone to Skywalker. Skywalker then calls the service provider and tells him "his" address (i.e. Obi-Wan's for all the provider knows) has changed from 4523782378 First Street to 4361278 7th Avenue (where Skywalker in fact lives). How does the Gesta^H^H^H government know the phone has moved to Skywalker's hands now?
Anyway, bless the internet and chat. Fat chance trying to enforce traceability with that. Since any fool can set up OpenFire on his own cheap VPS server and run it with SSL to boot.
We have had to show photo id for as long as I can remember in Austraila when getting a new phone or sim card.
There really isn't that much seperating "us" and the "bad" guys these days except we are "us".
Cell phone users simply should register with their real identification, said Li Mi, a coffee shop worker. "This is good, it will be secure," she said. "I know some people will be afraid about revealing their personal information, but I don't think that will happen. The (companies) won't give that out."
Seriously Li Mi? You don't think the companies will sell your information to the highest bidder?
"I think it will be more secure and the carriers will be able to track and store my information", said Li Junru
Jeez. These kids are pretty brainwashed.
They're getting rid of one of the last anonymous communication tools in a country that heavily polices any speech which criticizes the government. And all these kids can think of is that it will allow them to restore their contact list from the company's server if they lose their phone.
-- Let us endeavor so to live that when we pass even the undertaker shall be sorry. -- M. Twain
I've got nothing to hide.
Singned,
Sum Yung Gai
Fuck systemd. Fuck Redhat. Fuck Soylent, too. Wait, scratch the last one.
Last year, when I visited India, the world's largest democracy, I tried to buy a pre-paid SIM card. They asked me for a photo, proof of address (like my hotel's address) and a photocopy of my passport. It seems it's standard in India since the Mumbai attack.
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Benjamin Franklin
blame cell phone bombs on needing real names to get a phone.
You have a government issued ID with a government-issued ID number. Phone companies are required to collect this information and verify it with the government. They also generally require banking information for billing purposes, and make sure that that's consistent with the registered user of the phone as well. Yes, you can try to privately sell a SIM card registered under your name to someone else and manage to get by with prepaid cards. But that's a risky thing to do, because if the phone is used for some illicit purpose, the police will come to you. Even if you can prove you didn't do the crime, intending to get around registration requirements itself may cause trouble. There are some ways around this (e.g. roaming SIM cards), but most people are fully registered and tracked.
As for the Internet, Internet connections are also registered with the government under your name, and your provider is required to keep a record of all your connections, and it's illegal to set up open access points. Of course, it's easier to communicate clandestinely with Internet protocols, including going through foreign proxies, but if you try, that itself is often detectable and suspicious.
Where Germany wins over a place like Saudi Arabia is that they generally use all this tracking and surveillance only against actual crimes, although it's probably only a matter of time until those protections erode and governments will start using it for political purposes. Some of the people responsible for the laws and technology had plenty of experience from fascist and communist regimes.
Speaking as an expat who has been living in China for almost 5 years, this is being SOLD as a reaction to phone scams. It is a general rule that when you deal with real estate agents, art agents and others, do not give them your phone number or you will be bombarded with spam text messages at least 10-15 times a day. On top of this, there is an almost daily report of some crime ring scamming people for money by sending them text messages, or calling them while impersonating someone/some agency they know and trust.
That's how it is sold to the public, who otherwise would make a stink about this kind of thing. Even in this political environment, you have to suger coat the pills a little.
Now when they try to push the same legislation thru here in the USA all it will take is a quick comparison to COMMUNIST CHINA to get the politicians to vehemently oppose it....
"You want to know how to help your kids? Leave them the fuck alone." -George Carlin
the hong kong office of my company as 80 people in it' IT department. no lie, 50+ of them have the same name.
I think Chinese names are a little bit more diverse than that.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
Under federal law (or more specifically, the law is tacit on the subject that) ANYONE may ask that you provide a social security number - and use it as an identification number for you - except the government. Now, that comes with some caveats. You are not required to give them your SSN, but in that case they are allowed to deny you their services based on your refusal.
Your state laws may have other provisions, but normally the alternative is that you must give them enough personal identification to uniquely identify you and your entire financial history...which is really the only reason not to give out your SSN. With the information they have, just about anyone can get your SSN for $10.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
there's built-in anonymity with millions of people with the same name.
Now if only registrars did the same when selling domain names...
I've got better things to do tonight than die.
There is no way a black market in prepaid sims could develop. Follow the money.
The reason we subjugate ourselves to law is to better procure justice. If law does not accomplish this purpose then it m
A couple of months ago they tried this in Mexico. At first everyone was scared because they said they'd disconnect any line that wasn't registered.
At the end they didn't because too many people didn't register (in the order of millions) and about a month after the deadline the government simply desisted on the whole idea, calling it a "bad idea" and claiming that it was badly implemented.
Too bad the Chinese can't count on that happening, though.
Guard number one is a senior on Klahn's mountain, and aspires to be a research chemist. Welcome, please, Hung Well! Guard number two is a real skating buff. A warm welcome for Long Wang! Traveling comes naturally to guard number three, as he's a licensed airplane pilot. Welcome, please, Enormous Genitals!
Bullets are definitely unhealthy.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C. Clarke
In China, some surnames are very common, but the possibilities for first name are virtually endless. There is not a finite list that most people choose from like in the West (at least the part of 'West' I know). A lot of people share the same surname, but to share the same name completely is very rare. Because of that, it is much more frequent to use the complete name of someone.
Additionally, the system will of course use Chinese characters, not the simplified romanisation used in English press articles and maybe in your company that very often group together twenty or more different characters, so multiply greatly the risk of collisions between two names.
Never saw this coming.
Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
In South Africa there's RICA - the Regulation of Interception of Communications Act - that requires cellphone users to register every SIM card with all their details, including proof of ID and residence, before the end of the year (IIRC) or be cut off.
The likelihood of reducing crime versus feeding a booming black market for SIMs is left as an exercise for the reader.
Why would you need to lie?
In common law countries (i.e. Canada and most of US) a person can have however many names they wish, as long as the names are not used for fraudulent purposes.
how will he get by this?
I bought a SIM card in France and it came with an envelope into which I was to deposit a copy of my identity papers. The instructions claimed that the card would stop working 14 days after activation unless the papers were received.
Sure.
But I wonder, why are we surprised seing a dictatorship who jails disidents act this way, but a western democracy does the same and we barely notice?
Exactly my thoughts - it's been the same in the UK for a while now. I think they now ask for these details when you buy a SIM/PAYG phone, but even if they don't or you get around it by buying online, you have to register the phone with the phone company in order to add credit, which requires giving them your details.
That does not sound like a big problem, considering how easy it probably is to get a fake ID in China.
Officer: "What's your name, citizen?" Citizen: "Superman." Officer: "Very funny, what is your real name?" Citizen: "Superman." Officer: "I'm going to ask one more time, what is your real name?" Citizen: "Okay okay fine. It's Clark Kent."
It's too bad all the innocent people have to be punished without a trial for something to prevent crime. That's especially true since it won't prevent crime, and only may make it easier to prosecute criminals after the crime is committed. In fact, it will likely cause more crime, like armed robbery of people with cell phones so the crooks have phones that aren't tracked to them.
It has been this way in Turkey for almost 5 years. You have to legally apply with ID and a signed paper every time you want a new mobile number.
Actually, I'm on the fence about this one. As a frequent visitor of many hobby forums, I've noticed the amount of trolling has increased exponentially over the years. It has progressed very badly for some online communities. If all you visit is Slashdot, be thankful of the civility that occurs here.
I don't buy into the doom and gloom of government oppression that goes along with real name registration, nor do I buy into "the net needs anonymity". Seriously, look at 4chan, our glaring symbol of internet anonymity and see what happens when the masses come together under the cloak of anonymity.
However, I do see potential of abuse with using your real name everyone on the net. Therefore, I would like someone else to try it first (on a mass scale) and see if it's an utter failure, before trying to implement it ourselves.
Exactly my thoughts - it's been the same in the UK for a while now. I think they now ask for these details when you buy a SIM/PAYG phone, but even if they don't...
They don't (it's not a legal requirement)
or you get around it by buying online, you have to register the phone with the phone company in order to add credit, which requires giving them your details.
You can top up an anonymous phone bought with cash using e.g. scratch-card type vouchers bought with cash etc.
Yes, but I doubt that all of the 50 people live at the same address, have the same bank account and were born on the same day. I would assume that the registration would involve these additional pieces of information.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
So you just call yourself "Mike Ockissore" living at "666 Fucktard Avenue, Twatsville, Ontario" and they let you have the phone?
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Is this what happens when you "wing" the "wong" number?
The mind conceives, the body achieves, the spirit manifests.
what are they going to demand next? Probably a DNA database followed by a genital recognition database (they may need a microscope for that one)
It's probably true that Chinese names are slightly more diverse in Chinese, but the moment you use PinYin or Giles-Wades to romanize it, they have have the same spelling. And also, Chinese people also tends to pick very common English names if they have them (yeah I have one of them too); compounded with the fact that there aren't that many Chinese last names (especially within one geographic location*), everyone has the same name in English. Now for my Chinese name in Chinese, I'm fairly certain that no one else in the world has it, and I have very good confidence in it. But using PinYin shares my first name with a Taiwanese actress/singer. * In rural China, there are entire villages where everyone has the same last name. It's kinda hill billy out there.
That's not Spain's case.
You must provide your data if you want to use a SIM card. When this law was approved all anonymous clients were required to register. The unidentified SIMs were disabled.
The reason? Madrid 3/11 bombings were made with unidentified SIMs (which ironically were tracked to the massacre authors).