Blown To Bits

Another Attack on Anonymity

Sunday, May 30th, 2010 by Harry Lewis

Is it really a threat to our national security that people can pay cash for prepaid cell phones? That is the thought behind federal legislation that has been introduced in the Senate by Democrat Chuck Schumer and Republican John Cornyn. To buy a phone you would have to provide identification and the retailer would have to retain the information for 18 months. In Schumer’s words,

This proposal is overdue because for years, terrorists, drug kingpins and gang members have stayed one step ahead of the law by using prepaid phones that are hard to trace. We caught a break in catching the Times Square terrorist, but usually a prepaid cell phone is a dead end for law enforcement. There’s no reason why it should still be this easy for terror plotters to cover their tracks.

Of course, as they say, if you have done nothing wrong you have nothing to worry about.

As Jim Dwyer points out in the New York Times, a lot of people other than gangsters and terrorists like the anonymity of prepaid phones. Tipsters contacting journalists, and journalists calling tipsters who don’t want to be receiving identifiable calls. Battered women. Cheating spouses.

It’s an old story. We can make it harder for the bad guys to hide by enabling the government to track everything we do. Where do we draw the line and say we’d rather take the risk–when the tradeoffs are so hard to quantify, and the worst case scenarios so terrifying?

It’s coming, I’d guess; as is registration for Internet services, already the law in South Korea. When the left (which is happy with more social intervention and control) and the right (which foresees the end of civilization in the bungling Times Square bomber) line up, the libertarian arguments don’t have much traction.

But wait: In Mexico you have to register your cell phone, and there is widespread resistance! I wonder why.

As the government pushed citizens to register their phones, the newspaper El Universal sent a reporter out to the notorious black market bazaar in Mexico City known as Tepito and found that for $12,000 a person could buy the complete data set for every registered voter in Mexico — their names, addresses, dates of birth, driver’s license and social security numbers. The vendors said their best customers included organized crime and police agents.

The technical term for that is “repurposing” data.

6 Responses to “Another Attack on Anonymity”

  1. Spence Says:

    Interesting script. If the Government regulates this or regulates that, I think the “gang members, drug lords.” and what not will still find ways to do their evil deeds. May be harder for them, but it is what they do for a living, is their lifestyle. regulations can’t completely banish evil acts. There will be good and there will be evil.maybe promote better lifestyles to these people in mexico and better jobs in which they could support their families,but will always be evil people in the world. keep fighting the good fight.

  2. Spence Says:

    After the current administration pushes to pass bills allowing organizations such as……Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection…well then at that time…they will know you purchased that cell phone. The real issue is..Our liberty is at stake. I’m no scholar, i’m no constitutional lawyer..but i know the fourth amendment..and I know act’s of tyranny over man’s mind when i see the acts in plain sight, which ARE NOT HEALTHY FOR THE LIBERTY OF A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY.CHARTAE LIBERTATUM.

  3. Spence Says:

    AND YOU WON’T EVEN HAVE TO BE A “GANGSTER OR DRUGLORD” FOR THE Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection TO MONITOR TO…JUST A LAW ABIDING CITIZEN..SO MUCH FOR INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY…I GUESS WITH BIG BROTHER EVERYONE IS A SUSPECT.

  4. Spence Says:

    My previous comments may have been ignorant. I understand how regulation/policy can benefit a nation, but the global direction involving technology usage to monitor all citizens is, well..nice article though, really got the gears of my mind turning.

  5. CalBoomer Says:

    This cell phone registration and “Internet kill switch” is what they would have used in Iran last year if they had one. Stifle the opposition is a good way to gain additional control over a population ! When the next Bush gets “elected” by less than 1/2 of the votes, the government activates the “kill switches”. There will be no debate, no recount and no Supreme Court – Just you standing in the street wondering if anyone else will show up but it doesn’t matter because the news will be censored as well.

  6. Belle Guthorn Says:

    hey I read your blog all the time, you have many solid things to sound out. My subscribers would like your style, do you consider you could be a guest blogger for me?