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FCC wants to kill burner phones by forcing telecoms to get all customers' IDs

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Re: FCC wants to kill burner phones by forcing telecoms to get all customers' IDs

#141

Post by matheusmoreira »

t1234s wrote: post #113

This is probably part of the larger scope of the system wanting to require ID to even boot a computer let alone connect to the internet.

Yeah. Looks like the future they want is complete marginalization of free computers, of free people. The machines will have to be corporation and government owned in order to network and participate in society. If we own the machine, we're excluded. Ostracized. Even the language they use is disgusting. They say we're "tampering" with the system, as though it wasn't ours to begin with. It makes me really sad that this is what we're heading towards.

Re: FCC wants to kill burner phones by forcing telecoms to get all customers' IDs

#142

Post by Scaled »

bsimpson wrote: post #33

Here's the link to submit a comment to the FCC: https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/filings/express Ran a quick search and found a whole bunch of news articles, but nobody includes info that makes it easy to route your comment. Feels like the beginning of Hitchhiker's Guide: > It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying Beware of the Leopard.

You can also file a comment at the Federal Register for the next 16 days -- It looks like the proposal is 2026-10407

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/05/26/2026-10...

Re: FCC wants to kill burner phones by forcing telecoms to get all customers' IDs

#143

Post by IAmBroom »

wan23 wrote: post #130
naturalmovement wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> like most other places Much of EU requires ID for some time now. France is a bit strange, requires registration after 23 days or something. Germany, Italy, Spain it's basically impossible. The US is rather unique in that it does not require registration.

[flagged]

No one implied it was.

Re: FCC wants to kill burner phones by forcing telecoms to get all customers' IDs

#146

Post by buellerbueller »

willhslade wrote: post #126
MarkusWandel wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Somewhat recently, tried to activate a SIM for a guest here in Canada, and while you could fill in anything you want for personal info, the only way to hook up (prepaid) billing was with a Canadian credit card number. Whoops. This was only for a month, so I put in mine and he reimbursed me in cash. Other carriers may still let you buy one-time payment cards for cash at retail; this one didn't.

I think this is where Airalo shines. I've used it while travelling and I think eSIMs, as annoying as they are, are the way.

I just tried a GigSky eSim on my Samsung Galaxy and it was an epic fail of an experience.

Re: FCC wants to kill burner phones by forcing telecoms to get all customers' IDs

#147

Post by IAmBroom »

axus wrote: post #70
rirze wrote: post #15

Fundamentally un-American. That being said, many countries across the world already do this to eliminate burner phones. And many messaging apps require a phone number anyways so this basically locks down anonymous messaging through a phone.

Free, anonymous political speech is the bedrock of American freedom. Also, guns

America, where the Amendments to the Constitution start counting at "2".

Also, apparently ends there, too.

Re: FCC wants to kill burner phones by forcing telecoms to get all customers' IDs

#148

Post by Ajedi32 »

IAmBroom wrote: post #139
Ajedi32 wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I find most concerning is that this isn't a bill or law. Unelected government officials at the FCC can apparently just decide to do this .

Yes, that is the way federal agencies work. Details of complex systems are decided by (hopefully apolitical, public-good-oriented) specialists in the field of interest. One alternative is that Trump can do it at will. Or, to add a few more steps, Trump can fire the FCC head at will, replace him with a lackey, and then do it at will.

> [Laws] are decided by (hopefully apolitical, public-good-oriented) specialists in the field of interest

This doesn't sound to me at all like how a democratic country is supposed to function. It feels like you're describing China rather than the US.

> Trump can do it at will.

Which is also not how our constitution is supposed to work. The executive branch (which includes both the president and his appointees) is not supposed to be able to make laws, only execute on existing law.

Yes, I know this is how the system works these days. I'm just lamenting how it went so wrong...

Re: FCC wants to kill burner phones by forcing telecoms to get all customers' IDs

#149

Post by grishka »

As a Russian: huh, you guys could still just buy a sim card without any kind of identification? Impressive. We had that ID requirement introduced way back in the 00s.

Even EU countries seem to require an ID now. When I traveled to France and Belgium in 2024, I bought a French tourist sim card, and the carrier kept sending me some rather insistent messages that my line would get disconnected if I don't upload my passport in 30 days.

Re: FCC wants to kill burner phones by forcing telecoms to get all customers' IDs

#150

Post by iamnothere »

OptionOfT wrote: post #133

This was the case in Belgium a couple of years ago. Everybody had to go to a store and have their ID read by the system, and if they didn't, the phone number would be shut down. Unsure how that worked for MVNOs though. Now I live in the USA and am well-familiar with the spam calls. I wonder if this new rule will reduce/prevent them. I think in general the ability to spoof numbers should be banned / controlled. Someon…

Spam calls are a different issue (spam is usually VOIP). Spammers also often use spoofed numbers since STIR/SHAKEN is somehow still not properly implemented.
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