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Chinese Cell Phone Buyers Now Required to Show ID, Passports

by Amar Toor on September 2, 2010 at 08:00 AM

man standing in front of chinese cell phone ad
As part of a cracked-out crackdown on mobile privacy, China now requires all of its citizens to register their personal information before buying cell phones. As Reuters reports, the country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will now require anyone buying a cell phone to show ID cards, with foreign purchasers having to show their passports. According to the China Daily newspaper, the decision, which goes into effect today, is part of "the latest campaign by the government to curb the global scourge of spam, pornographic messages and fraud on cellular phones." In China, text message spam is apparently something of a major problem. Some, however, have criticized the move as yet another infringement on citizen privacy.

Critics have expressed concern that, for example, the government could easily use the registered information to monitor Chinese mobile users. Others have pointed out that the data could be sold to corrupt companies or spammers. "Now that the system of authenticating names for mobile phones is being enforced, the related measures for protecting citizens' privacy cannot be delayed," reads a critique in the China Economic Times. It'd certainly be nice to see China implement such protective measures, but, at this point, it seems like wishful thinking.

Tags: cell phone, cell phones, CellPhone, CellPhones, china, chinese, chinese government, ChineseGovernment, government, mobile, mobile phone, MobilePhone, monitor, privacy, Privacy Policy, PrivacyIssues, PrivacyPolicy, top

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