From the files of “wtf?” we find this article (thx Zach).
The UK gov seems to have lost control of its security sphincter yet again. Now the gov has proposed in its infinite wisdom that in order for people to buy a cell phone that they will be required to have a passport to do so. A backhanded attempt to get people to sign up for passports that might not already have them. That, and greatly extend the reach of their ever expanding surveillance network.
From the Times Online:
A compulsory national register for the owners of all 72m mobile phones in Britain would be part of a much bigger database to combat terrorism and crime. Whitehall officials have raised the idea of a register containing the names and addresses of everyone who buys a phone in recent talks with Vodafone and other telephone companies, insiders say.
The move is targeted at monitoring the owners of Britain’s estimated 40m prepaid mobile phones. They can be purchased with cash by customers who do not wish to give their names, addresses or credit card details.
OK, so what of cloned cells? Not like you can’t find those. When I lived in DC I was offered a clone cell for $100 in front of the Washington monument of all places.
Weird moment in time.
I find it a perverse farce that yet again the spectre of terrorism is being used to validate another proposed government program. Apparently work is already underway at Vodafone in case this program comes to pass. This surveillance will do a great job at tracking legitimate users. It will do sweet f*** all for monitoring bad guys.
