Tuesday, July 24, 2007

 

Sim cards and the ease of buying them

Recently since the current the latest terrorism attack in the UK, Australian Law enforcements authorites are expressing concern on how easy it to purchase a prepaid sim card. The concerns are that Pre-paid sim cards tend to involved in numerous crimes, from cyber bullying, harassment, right through to communication for the organization of felonies and of course terrorism. The problem is that a mobile phone prepaid simcard cannot be tracked as easily as someone on a plan can be.

So What is a SIM Card, well it stands for Subscriber Identity Module. It is a portable memory chip used in some models of cellular telephones. The SIM card makes it easy to switch to a new phone by simply sliding the SIM out of the old phone and into the new one. The SIM holds personal identity information, cell phone number, phone book, text messages and other data. It can be thought of as a mini hard disk that automatically activates the phone into which it is inserted.
In NSW when purchasing a mobile phone simcard you already have to present a photo ID and that information is recorded, however, a ramp up of the amount of ID you need to provide is coming. Under the new arrangements, Mobile phone SIM card buyers would have to a passport or birth certificate - the same "100-point" identity check required to open a bank account. State and territory police have proposed the move following discussions at the federal inquiry into the future impact of serious organized crime on Australian society.
My View: With cyber harassment and via sms and phone calls coming from these prepaid phones most of the time, I think perhaps we should have a reverse telephone directory that members of the public can look up so if they receive a phone call they can find out exactly who it is. If people don’t want to be on the directory then they should go onto a plan.

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