New mobile phone subscribers in China will be required to furnish key personal information as of today – information that will be available to the government. The new rules for mobile registration are part of an effort to crack down on “the global scourge of spam, pornographic messages and fraud on cellular phones" in the world’s largest mobile-device market, according to the government-approved English-language newspaper, the China Daily.
Human rights groups countered that the new rules could be used to control the use of mobile and wireless technology for communications the government deems subversive or suspicious.
China thus joins a range of European, Latin American and Asian countries that require individual subscribers to furnish IDs to obtain wireless subscriptions. Government concern over the use of new mobile technology is on the rise in many countries: India is locked in a battle with BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion over that device’s strong encryption technology, which prevents RIM from sharing any information on corporate emails sent over the BlackBerry system. Among the countries requiring IDs for mobile subscriptions are Japan, Singapore, India and Australia.
In the U.S., a valid credit card is generally enough to purchase a mobile device and a subscription to one of the major wireless carriers. Prepaid cards, which require virtually zero identification, are considered by law-enforcement authorities and terrorism experts as a primary tool for drug smuggling and other illegal or illicit activity.
China has around 800 million mobile phone users, as many as 320 million of whom are unregistered, reported the China Daily, citing data from the China Academy of Telecommunication Research. Unregistered mobile phone users will be required to sign up and furnish valid ID by 2013 or risk having their service terminated.
The new rules will also apply to foreigners living or traveling in China.
