Live data from Hacker News

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

404media.co

281–290 of 417 posts

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

#281
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.

> Chile, you virtually needed to be a citizen, as I recall. I heard something similar about Russia after recent changes actually, it could as well be impossible for non-residents so tourists just stick with international roaming and public wifi. IIRC there's a catch-22 situation where you need a Gosuslugi (online government services portal) account to buy a sim, but you need a Russian phone number to sign up for one.…

But of course, the public Wifi also requires authentication. With, you guessed it, a phone number.

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

#282
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…

> Surely the government also allows you to just call and get an update?

Government offices in many developed countries don't realistically answer the phone any more. You either use the official app on your phone, or you log into the official website using strong authentication that requires a phone. A luddite workaround might be a registered letter by post, but you might wait a long time for an answer.

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

#285
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem of citizens having anonymous internet connectivity.

That's an illusion. Two days of location data and you can pin down the owner pretty well. I thought about getting a SIM when Germany was about to introduce ID requirements. I quickly realized this being a moot point.

There a significant difference between "the user can be identified fairly well if you can get access to sensitive stuff" and "the owner is always explicitly recorded in a searchable database".

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

#286

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 .

It's been this way at least since the Administrative Procedure Act. Solidified later with Chevron. Chevron is struck down, but in effect not too much has changed.

[deleted]

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

#287
post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Not really. Rural America you don't need a mobile phone. I can go days without ever touching my phone. And if it wasn't for my bank, I wouldn't need it at all. Even then I could just go to the bank but I'm too lazy to do that.

Even in NYC you could get by pretty much just fine without a phone (a credit or debit card is pretty much required though). The hardest part would be losing contact since expectations of how people organize and meet up are completely mobile phone centric, and plans are almost expected to be modified in real time.

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

#288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 t…

>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.

I left prime running a bunch of 80s comedy films in the background as I cleaned my house on the weekend. And so much of the "situation" end of sitcom relies on people having prearranged things beforehand and just happening to arrive on time.

A couple of SMS's and every situation would be resolved.

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

#289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 t…

>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. I left prime running a bunch of 80s comedy films in the background as I cleaned my house on the weekend. And so much of the "situation" end of sitcom relies on people having prearranged things beforehand and just hap…

I could get by on just an SMS/Call only device, the problem is these days everyone moved to internet based apps which require an android/ios app. In theory you could use some kind of bridge server to convert it in to a simple text protocol for a dumb device, but I'm always worried you'd get flagged as a bot and have your account deleted.

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

#290
Pretty sure that this would just encourage privacy minded folks to find a loophole.

Or if you get fed up enough you just start blasting FM transmissions without a license..... Keep the burst short enough while your mobile and don't make the transmitter obvious and you could probably get away with it for short SMS comms.

Or just use something like lora or meshtastic/meshcore

Post reply on HN