Proposal To Register Buyers Of Sim Cards Revived

[Mr Lee]

We have registered sims in the US, so I am not sure how this would hurt anyone? I know all about the big brother issue but this is the year 2010 and big brother already works in many other ways, so I do not see how this would hurt anyone except criminals and spammers. Anyone have any thoughts on this?TELECOMMUNICATIONS authorities are dusting off a 10-year-old plan to register buyers of cellular phone SIM cards as part of efforts to counter terrorism and other criminal activities. Deputy commissioner Douglas Michael Mallillin of the National Telecommunications Commission said a draft memorandum circular was being readied in the event that Congress failed to enact a law before it adjourned for the May 2010 elections. The registration may be done by mandating the telephone companies and their authorized vendors to register the personal information of buyers of SIM or subscriber information module cards, whose data will initially be stored by the telephone companies.

[TheMason]

I don't see anything wrong with requiring registration of SIM cards. You need to provide ID for a landline, postpaid mobile, and ISP account. I don't see why prepaid SIMs should be exempted. One negative of this though is that it makes it very difficult to get a quick and easy SIM card if you are coming to the Philippines for just a short while. You had to register prepaid SIMs when I lived in India and hotel addresses were not acceptable. It had to be a regular residence.To me a bigger concern than the privacy issues is how this will limit accessibility to communications. Obtaining ID in the Philippines can be expensive and time consuming. Many people won't be able to meet the ID requirements.

[Mr Lee]

I don't see anything wrong with requiring registration of SIM cards. You need to provide ID for a landline, postpaid mobile, and ISP account. I don't see why prepaid SIMs should be exempted. One negative of this though is that it makes it very difficult to get a quick and easy SIM card if you are coming to the Philippines for just a short while. You had to register prepaid SIMs when I lived in India and hotel addresses were not acceptable. It had to be a regular residence.To me a bigger concern than the privacy issues is how this will limit accessibility to communications. Obtaining ID in the Philippines can be expensive and time consuming. Many people won't be able to meet the ID requirements.

And thus it is why they are pushing the national id system and could it just be a coincidence they are pushing both at the same time. :th_exactly:

[TheMason]

I don't see anything wrong with requiring registration of SIM cards. You need to provide ID for a landline, postpaid mobile, and ISP account. I don't see why prepaid SIMs should be exempted. One negative of this though is that it makes it very difficult to get a quick and easy SIM card if you are coming to the Philippines for just a short while. You had to register prepaid SIMs when I lived in India and hotel addresses were not acceptable. It had to be a regular residence.To me a bigger concern than the privacy issues is how this will limit accessibility to communications. Obtaining ID in the Philippines can be expensive and time consuming. Many people won't be able to meet the ID requirements.

And thus it is why they are pushing the national id system and could it just be a coincidence they are pushing both at the same time. :th_exactly:

They already have NBI and passports as national IDs....there is no need for another one. They just need to make them affordable. A passport costs 750 pesos....thats a lot of money for most people here. Its cheaper to buy a fake ID.

[Genius]

I don't see anything wrong with requiring registration of SIM cards. You need to provide ID for a landline, postpaid mobile, and ISP account. I don't see why prepaid SIMs should be exempted. One negative of this though is that it makes it very difficult to get a quick and easy SIM card if you are coming to the Philippines for just a short while. You had to register prepaid SIMs when I lived in India and hotel addresses were not acceptable. It had to be a regular residence.To me a bigger concern than the privacy issues is how this will limit accessibility to communications. Obtaining ID in the Philippines can be expensive and time consuming. Many people won't be able to meet the ID requirements.

And thus it is why they are pushing the national id system and could it just be a coincidence they are pushing both at the same time. :th_exactly:

They already have NBI and passports as national IDs....there is no need for another one. They just need to make them affordable. A passport costs 750 pesos....thats a lot of money for most people here. Its cheaper to buy a fake ID.

If the phillipines does not watch out it will have all the bureaucracy of the 1st world, with none of the benefits. In a nation where streets producing fake ID are openly referred to in the Newspapers with no action, where Police are corruptible for the price of a BigMacthe only effect of having an ID requirement for sims, will be to irritate and annoy legitimate users. The criminals will get them anyhow, how do they propose to monitor the 200 million sims in circulation at the moment ? MORE LAWS MEAN LESS FREEDOM FOR YOU AND MORE POWER TO THE CORRUPT GOVERNMENT.