Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

404media.co

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

271–280 of 417 posts

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

#271

Post by timando »

LawnGnome wrote: post #86
dkdbejwi383 wrote: post #2

This is how it works in Australia, which means it's a pain for tourists as you need to provide a passport for ID and get it activated, as opposed to just grabbing one at an airport kiosk and being ready to go on your way to the taxi or train like most other places.

Has this changed recently? I thought I heard about this several years ago, but the last 2-3 times I've visited (in the last couple of years) I've been able to pick up a prepaid SIM from Colesworth without any ID check.

It used to be that you did the ID check when you bought the SIM, but now you have to do the ID check when you activate it.

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

#272

Post by throw-the-towel »

AnthonyMouse wrote: post #215
jerf wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"This doesn't sound to me at all like how a democratic country is supposed to function." There is a family of interesting theories, or perhaps if you prefer, simply a way of looking at history in which you don't consider the "United States" as a single governance structure that has existed back to 1776, but as a series of related, but distinct entities with distinct "social contracts" (a term laden with some philosop…

> how much worse off would it be if we still "representatives per person" numbers from 1776 and had a Congress of many thousands? Isn't that actually a major cause of the trouble? You expect Congress to deal with more and more complexities but limit the number of people (i.e. experts) who are members of it, causing them all to be generalists and moreover to have to spend more of their time campaigning rather than deb…

This sounds like what the Soviet/Chinese Congresses of People's Deputies were supposed to be.

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

#273

Post by throw-the-towel »

rconti wrote: post #167
grishka wrote: post #149

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 passp…

It seems to depend a lot. It's kind of hard in Germany - they wanted my permanent address. I didn't find France as difficult. Iceland didn't care. Italy wanted my passport. Chile, you virtually needed to be a citizen, as I recall.

FWIW I bought my Chilean SIM without any problems whatsoever.

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

#274

Post by Gigachad »

NoMoreNicksLeft wrote: post #11
dkdbejwi383 wrote: post #2

This is how it works in Australia, which means it's a pain for tourists as you need to provide a passport for ID and get it activated, as opposed to just grabbing one at an airport kiosk and being ready to go on your way to the taxi or train like most other places.

What problem were they hoping to solve with that legislation?

Any situation you can imagine wanting a burner phone for, that's what the government wants to crack down on.

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

#275

Post by TFNA »

throw-the-towel wrote: post #273
rconti wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems to depend a lot. It's kind of hard in Germany - they wanted my permanent address. I didn't find France as difficult. Iceland didn't care. Italy wanted my passport. Chile, you virtually needed to be a citizen, as I recall.

FWIW I bought my Chilean SIM without any problems whatsoever.

Situation circa 2019 at least was that foreign tourists in Chile could purchase a SIM card, but it would be automatically disconnected after some amount of time without registering the phone in a way few foreign tourists would do.

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

#276

Post by TFNA »

skinfaxi wrote: post #204
matheusmoreira wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

The thing about networks is that we can create our own.

Citizens creating informal horizontal networks between themselves is threatening to social harmony, and as more states around the world learn from the highly successful Chinese model, they are unlikely to permit the Wild West à la the old-school internet you are thinking about.

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

#277

Post by Gigachad »

Ritewut wrote: post #186
everdrive wrote: post #180

And people will keep carrying their phones with them. And keep using them. And keep installing apps. Yes, ideally we'd have laws against government infringement, but the capability to not use your phone is in your hands.

This comment is so divorced from reality. It is very difficult to live life in the modern world without a phone unless you want to go Amish.

I've been thinking about it as an experiment lately. Not fully throwing my smartphone in the bin, but considering leaving it at home for a day.

If I had my physical credit card with me I think it would largely be viable, the main issue would be if I had to meet up with friends it would be incredibly difficult without being able to contact them. Public wifi these days has almost vanished so it's difficult to connect to the internet without cellular access now.

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

#278

Post by brewdad »

everdrive wrote: post #217
tumult wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More and more things require having a smartphone. Scan this QR code to install the app to cross the border. Install the app to use the street parking in this city. Install the app to board the bus. Install the app to get your filing status with department xyz. I admire your spirit of rebellion, but avoiding using a smartphone in daily life in most places will result in a lifestyle contorted specifically to avoid usin…

This is not meant as an argument or a counterpoint, I'm just not familiar with some of your examples. Would you be able to elaborate? >Scan this QR code to install the app to cross the border. Would this be a national border? I haven't traveled internationally for a while, but this would be quite troubling. >Install the app to board the bus. Is there no option to pay without an app? >Install the app to get your filin…

I was required to install an app in order to enter and leave the Philippines. To my knowledge there was no other way to get the required approvals.

My local system is completely cashless. You can pay by phone, credit card tap or with a reloadable transit card. To my knowledge, the only way to reload the card is to use their app or travel to a handful of authorized agents to have them reload your card.

I can call my government office and wait on hold for an hour, ultimately probably needing to schedule an appointment in person to handle my issue or I can install an app and have my issue resolved in a few minutes. Which option do you think most people choose?

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

#279

Post by lokar »

rconti wrote: post #167
grishka wrote: post #149

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 passp…

It seems to depend a lot. It's kind of hard in Germany - they wanted my permanent address. I didn't find France as difficult. Iceland didn't care. Italy wanted my passport. Chile, you virtually needed to be a citizen, as I recall.

South Korea is also hard

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

#280

Post by throw-the-towel »

TFNA wrote: post #275
throw-the-towel wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW I bought my Chilean SIM without any problems whatsoever.

Situation circa 2019 at least was that foreign tourists in Chile could purchase a SIM card, but it would be automatically disconnected after some amount of time without registering the phone in a way few foreign tourists would do.

I got mine in 2024. Maybe the shop clerk activated it for me, I don't remember.
Post reply on HN