> In the US all carriers are > required to take the details of someone before > they buy a sim pack.
I was recently given two pre-paid voice/data SIMs (on two separate occasions) without being asked to provide any ID. All they asked for was a name and 4 digit PIN. Cash was a payment option. No address, social security number, etc was required. > In China and Japan you have to present a > passport or national ID to buy a sim pack. I lived in China, though it was a number of years ago. I never had to provide ID to buy SIMs. Things could be different now, though :) > The EU is in the process of making it mandatory > for all its members to register sims. > A bill has been passed to Senate in the US > requiring sim registration. Citation needed! Can you provide more details on this legislation? If there's a law on the books in the US, it's not strictly followed. Anyway, all of that is beside the main point. I still argue that this legislation is a mostly ineffective security measure, has negative economic consequences, and is prone to abuse. And, though it won't benefit consumers, it will benefit the telecoms as it should significantly reduce the "churn" rate (the industry term for users frequently changing providers) by creating barriers to entry. You're far less likely to change networks frequently if you need to manually sign up and suffer a delay period every time you switch. As a result, companies like MTN will now be able to provide lower quality of service with fewer consequences as customers will be less inclined to make the effort to switch to another network. I believe Uganda's high churn rates indicate a healthy consumer-oriented marketplace. Why throw this away and give more leverage to the telecoms? ----- Original message ----- > @kyle, @benjamin, and if you can in USA and China and Sweden, I bet those > guys already have some fancy mechanism to track down any phone user even > if they haven't registered their SIMs. In the US all carriers are > required to take the details of someone before they buy a sim pack. In > China and Japan you have to present a passport or national ID to buy a > sim pack. The EU is in the process of making it mandatory for all its > members to register sims. > A bill has been passed to Senate in the US requiring sim registration. > Whether or not it goes through is another issue. > I think the UCC/gov't has some valid concerns to do what they are doing. > Playing the devil's advocate, having national IDs should have been the > first priority for gov't if it has security concerns, then maybe > registration would not be requirement. > > On Tue, Jan 17, 2012 at 10:04 PM, Kyle Spencer <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > If you go many > > > countries, you just can't walk into a shop and buy a sim card like > > > we > > do it > > > in UG. > > > > You can in the USA! > > > > > > On Mon, Jan 16, 2012 at 10:28 AM, Bright Onapito <[email protected]> > > wrote: > > > Hello Ronnie, > > > I feel your pain, but I must say this process is long over due! It > > > is a mandatory procedure for every teleco to register all its > > > subscribers. UCC was abit lenient to all these guys in the first > > > place. If you go many countries, you just can't walk into a shop > > > and buy a sim card like we > > do it > > > in UG. In as much as it might appear as a 'breech of privacy' I > > > believe > > it > > > is a move aimed at protecting you and me. Imagine your phone was > > > stolen > > and > > > sold to whoever. As soon as they put in their sim card it will be > > > quite > > easy > > > to for starters know who is using your stolen phone. That's a plus > > > for starters isn't it? > > > Cheers! > > > > > > On Sun, Jan 15, 2012 at 8:00 PM, Delyon Ronnie > > > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > Recently read in the papers about UCC requiring every holder of a > > > > sim > > card > > > > to register it or face termination of service. > > > > > > > > What does this achieve and isn’t this some infringement of privacy. > > People > > > > should I think have the option of opting out given I don’t(yet) > > > > see any benefits of doing it to begin with > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > 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. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > Bright Onapito > > > Onabright Holdings Limited > > > +256 792 782629 > > > www.onabright.com > > > > > > I purpose to be part of the solution and not the problem > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > 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. > > > > > > -- > *Bright Onapito* > Onabright Holdings Limited > +256 792 782629 > www.onabright.com > > *I purpose to be part of the solution and not the problem * _______________________________________________ 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.
