In an enlightened effort to prevent terrorism, you may soon need a passport to buy a cellphone in the UK. The Times is reporting that officials are thinking of creating a register of prepaid phone purchasers.
The pay-as-you-go phones are popular with criminals and terrorists because their anonymity shields their activities from the authorities. But they are also used by thousands of law-abiding citizens who wish to communicate in private.
One loophole? You can pay cash and not show a passport. Another loophole? You can get a SIM card and cellphone from another country and make calls. Another loophole? You could use a pay phone. Security theater, friends. Security theater.
In Switzerland, there’s a similar law in effect for quite a number of years now (although without the possibility to pay cash and avoid registration). The story behind it was, that Mossad agents were in Switzerland for some weird spy mission and had bought and used tons of Swiss prepaid cell phone cards to make both local and international calls. Bottom line: it’s not as hysterical as one might think but on the other hand, there’s always loopholes…