If the FCC Bans Burner Phones, It Could Be a Privacy Nightmare

Proposed rules would require every mobile customer to provide a government ID. Experts warn the move could effectively end anonymous phone service in the US.

5 min read

The Federal Communications Commission is poised to begin forcing the country’s telecom companies to collect names, addresses and government identification numbers for every cellphone customer.

If adopted -- a likely outcome given the FCC’s current Republican majority who support it -- the rules would effectively outlaw burner phones, devices that aren't specifically tied to identifying data, allowing the privacy-minded to maintain their anonymity.

The proposal is called “Know-Your-Customer Requirements,” and the FCC is framing it as a way to stop robocalls and scammers. Anyone with a phone can tell you the problem is very real: US consumers receive an average of 10 unwanted calls every week, a number that’s grown at a compounded 16% rate every year since 2023.

But privacy...

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