Just a few objections: I have bought pre-paid cards in both the UAE and in Singapore the times I have been there, and I did not have to part with any personal information, let alone fingerprints. Is this a brand new occurrence?
Regarding the best solution when abroad: Is it not both faster and cheaper to simply hook up with some local public (or private, depending on your opinions on piggybacking) access point? Of course, availability varies depending on country, but in most larger cities in developed nations you are hard pressed not to find access points virtually everywhere. Some cities even maintain a city-wide free no-login WLAN service. Brisbane did this a while back, if my memory serves me right. Sure, security and all that, but it's ultimately unimportant as long as you have decent security overall. For example, when I travel I always tunnel all traffic through my own server at home, using 4096-bit (or perhaps it was 2048, can't remember) encryption with pre-shared passworded keys for authentication (a opposed to simple password authentication, which is fairly insecure). Try sniffing my traffic for anything useful :) -- Skickat från min Android-telefon med K-9 E-post. Ursäkta min fåordighet. Mark Tinka <[email protected]> skrev: On Wednesday, January 04, 2012 02:29:28 PM Kyle Spencer wrote: > This cannot be judged acceptable solely on the basis that > it's a common occurrence. This system seems to > introduce more problems than it solves: It does not > appear that it will have a meaningful impact on Uganda's > overall level of security (e.g. it will not prevent > terrorist attacks, kidnappings, or extortion), it will > harm SMEs (e.g. small shops, kiosks) by banning them > from selling SIMs, and will create a massive centralized > photographic/fingerprint database of all Ugandans which > will be extremely vulnerable to abuse. I agree that the methods the UCC are proposing are rather aggressive, even by my own standards. But I don't agree that reasonable registration for services is terrible as such. In some places where I've been to, the biggest issue with this process was that some networks took more than 3hrs to bring the SIM card online. However, this was resolvd by pre- activating the SIM cards, and only mapping registration details to the account once they were sold. When done well, it's a 5-minute process at a kiosk, end of story. The way the UCC are proposing it would make any sane person cut their hair and leave the country. > Not in Uganda. I've purchased a variety of Internet > packages over the years and have never registered my > details. Unregistered SIMs rain from the sky at > promotional events and retail outlets either don't ask > or don't care what your name is. I was referring to traditional forms of access where landline broadband, dial-up or permanent circuits were being ordered. Folk who buy post-paid cellular services also typically register their information. It's not uncommon - it's just that when you want to introduce registration at scale like pre-paid mobile services are, you need to be rather tactful about how you choose to do it. And I think the UCC are sleeping on this one. > Unless your service doesn't require an access user/pass > (e.g. any pre-paid mobile broadband service). HTTPS et > al will take care of the rest. Agree, but we already know that pre-paid mobile broadband registration does not exist today. In the early days of mobile data services, you actually required a username/password pair to get online - but that was quickly abolished as it didn't scale. I'm talking about broadband services where you typically sign in using a username (although more modern approaches like DHCP-based broadband means you don't really need a username, and can be identified by other means, e.g., MAC address, VLAN ID, circuit ID, e.t.c.). > On a side note, I recently purchased three pre-paid SIMs > on two separate occasions (one voice SIM and two > unlimited voice/sms/data SIMs) in the USA without > showing ID or giving any contact details other than a > name. I certainly didn't have to get my photograph and > fingerprints taken -- that just wouldn't fly here. Not all countries practice SIM card registration. And I'm happier if I don't have to give my details away when buying a pre-paid line either; if for nothing else, because I don't want to spend anymore time than I should at a booth buying a SIM card. But what I'm saying is that where I've seen it done at scale (Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, U.A.E, e.t.c.) - and I'm talking tens of millions of active subscribers - SIM card registration is at the absolute bottom of why one would be unhappy with their pre-paid line experience. I eventually found the solution to avoiding SIM card nonesense when I travel (and don't think I'm being stuck- up): roaming. I know, it's expensive, is not supported by most people, is the phone companies ripping you off deliberately - but if you watch your spending, there is a certain joy to be had in the convenience it brings when you don't have to hassle with local SIM card issues, the worst of which can be landing in some foreign country and buying a SIM card that is using a new prefix which hasn't been routed by the world's telephone companies. Suddenly you can't text, call, be text'ed or called. Also, leaving your passport in your hotel room can suddenly become the enemy, as that's your primary means of SIM card registration when traveling. Mark. _____________________________________________ The Uganda Linux User Group: http://linux.or.ug Send messages to this mailing list by addressing e-mails to: [email protected] Mailing list archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Mailing list settings: http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug To unsubscribe: http://kym.net/mailman/options/lug The Uganda LUG mailing list is generously hosted by INFOCOM: http://www.infocom.co.ug/ The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). The mailing list host is not responsible for them in any way.
_______________________________________________ The Uganda Linux User Group: http://linux.or.ug Send messages to this mailing list by addressing e-mails to: [email protected] Mailing list archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Mailing list settings: http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug To unsubscribe: http://kym.net/mailman/options/lug The Uganda LUG mailing list is generously hosted by INFOCOM: http://www.infocom.co.ug/ The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). The mailing list host is not responsible for them in any way.
