ID required to purchase mobile numbers
Jane Lai
SHENZHEN began implementing a real-name registration system, requiring all mobile phone users to provide their personal information on the purchase of SIM cards as the new policy took effect across the country yesterday.
The government says the move is needed in order to protect users’ privacy and curb spam text messaging.
Anyone purchasing a SIM card from any of China’s three mobile operators — China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom — must provide their full names and identity card numbers on purchase, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). Foreign nationals will also be required to furnish a passport or other identification when buying a SIM card.
Under the new policy, convenience store and street vendors who have been selling anonymous SIM cards were to suspend sales yesterday until they are trained to register their customers.
Owners of existing SIM cards will be required to provide their details when they seek further services from network providers, said Ling Xiaodan, an employee with China Mobile in Futian.
She added that the company had a comprehensive confidentiality system to protect customers’ personal information.Many consumers have expressed concerns that their personal information could be used for other purposes.
China Mobile would not be offering rewards to encourage existing users to register, Ling said. An earlier Beijing News report suggested China’s major mobile providers, such as China Unicom, would offer rewards to prompt exisiting users to provide their personal information.
The registration system is a nationwide move initiated by the MIIT. The system will be introduced in two phases: New mobile phone users were registered starting from yesterday, while registration of old users will be completed in three years.
Meanwhile, an unnamed employee of a mobile provider told media that cell phone services would not be terminated if a user refused to register.
Xiang Ligang, a local telecom industry professional, said the advantages of a real-name system far outweighed the disadvantages. Besides curbing harassment from commercial advertisements, the real-name system would be helpful for the future development of mobile phone networks, including location-based services and e-businesses, he said.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said that about 40 percent of China’s 800 million cellphone users currently are unidentified.
A government center that deals with mobile phone complaints reported that an average Chinese phone user receives a dozen spam messages a week, and that three in four users received messages that involved fraud, the China Daily reported yesterday.
In an article posted Wednesday on the China Media Project’s Web site, a legal researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Zhou Hanhua, expressed doubts that requiring users to register their names with the companies would control spam.
He is worried that the rules likely will first create a black market in legally registered SIM cards that can be used for spam, and then spur hackers to find ways to circumvent the registration requirement.
Source： Shenzhen Daily Editor： 洪志科