PAYG mobiles to join government database?

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The Home Office has refuted suggestions that it will force pre-pay mobile phone buyers to provide Government-issued ID such as a passport before being a sale can be made.

Yesterday’s Sunday Times newspaper reported that the ID registration procedures spanning the 72 million mobiles in the country were part of governments plans to “extend massively the powers of state surveillance.”

“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,” claimed the newspaper’s article.

However, a Home Office spokeswoman told IT PRO: “This is not government policy. We do not recognise it as a government policy.”

Subsequent media reports have tied in the suggestion of such measures into the wider debates about the creation of a £12 billion communications surveillance database – another measure in the fight against terrorism.

But, the Home Office spokeswoman said that was “more about intercepting communications data such as the where and when of a call,” adding that it was “not really relevant to the [Times] mobile phone story.”

While the Information Commissioner’s Office could not offer any comment on the PAYG ID reports, it did provide a statement highlighting its concerns about the database plans overall.

“In the summer the Information Commissioner called for a public debate about government proposals for the state to retain people's internet and phone records. The Commissioner warned that it is likely that such a scheme would be a step too far for the British way of life. Proposals that threaten such intrusion into people's lives must be properly debated. We welcome the Home Secretary’s announcement to consult on the proposals as the public will require the full details of the scheme. The ICO will be studying the details put forward in any forthcoming legislation carefully,” a spokesperson said in the written statement.

“It is important to highlight that creating large collections of data is not a risk free option. This not only engages concerns about unwarranted intrusion into the lives of every citizen it also raises worries about making sure that people’s personal information is properly safeguarded, is not misused and can never fall into the wrong hands.”

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