
UK: Passports will be needed to buy mobile phones - nickb
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4969312.ece
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DenisM
Hello black market! Any young briton can now make extra $50 by reselling his
prepaid phone to a frinedly neighborhood dealer. The end users will pay $100
premium, which is not going to put any cirminal out of business.

It sure will create hassle for the rest of the people though.

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axod
This is ridiculous. Just how stupid do they think criminals and terrorists
are?

I am ashamed of my country :(

How many people die to terrorism each year? Hardly any. The government should
spend it's energy protecting people from the real dangers not just the "media
reported dangers".

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andyking
There are thousands of little corner shops, newsagents and market stalls which
sell pay-as-you-go SIM cards for a few pounds with no questions asked in the
UK. Basic mobile handsets can be bought cheaply off markets or car boots,
again an anonymous cash transaction with no questions asked.

This will do nothing to stop those with nefarious aims from getting hold of
unregistered mobile devices and will simply increase the surveillance of those
of us who obey the law. The trade in mobile phones and SIM cards via thousands
of small outlets simply can not be regulated. It'll be the same as buying TV
equipment: buy from a big shop and they require your name and address to pass
on to the TV licence company to check you're licensed. Buy from a car boot
sale or out of the paper and they just hand over the TV.

What precisely are they on here? The fact that some criminals use unregistered
pay-as-you-go mobiles is practically irrelevant. This is just another step
towards total surveillance.

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kzar
I think they should get the hang of not loosing the data they already have
before they start mining more.

This kind of thing makes me sick to be English, we have no choice but to let
them take all this information yet they can't even secure it properly.

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osipov
>we have no choice but to let them take all this information

I thought you guys in UK were a fellow democracy, can't you vote your rulers
out of power?

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axod
They will be out at the next election, which is good. The current Labour
government are a lot more likely to do this sort of thing than the incoming
Tory government will be. Labour is for society over individuals, whereas Tory
is the opposite in general.

Perhaps they'll reverse much of this nonsense.

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anamax
I blame Bush.

