FCC ID mandate plans could kill anonymous burner phones

A proposed change to FCC rules may make anonymous burner phones a thing of the past.

That's because the federal regulatory agency is introducing plans that would require the collection of names, addresses, and government identification numbers for nearly every U.S. cellphone user in a bid to curb escalating robocalls and scams.

The proposal mandates phone companies connect identifying information to numbers originating on their networks, including pre-paid phones, and flag suspicious activity associated with devices, such as cryptocurrency payments and phone numbers not listed to residential addresses. That information would then be officially verified and stored for up to four years if the number is deemed suspicious.

Initial public comment on the proposal closes today. The FCC will then open up a reply period, with a deadline of July 27, before making its final decision. There's no timeline yet for implementing the new rules should the agency proceed.

The proposal was first introduced in May and stoked immediate concerns among consumer privacy advocates. In the month since, other civil society advocates have warned that expanding Know-Your-Consumer rules could spell disaster for a wide range of privacy seekers in the digital age.

Domestic violence resource groups, for example, have filed statements to the FCC arguing that data privacy and the use of anonymous devices is an essential safety tool for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. According to the National Network to End Domestic Violence, the FCC's proposed red flags "implicate practices that survivors routinely use to protect themselves from being monitored or harmed by abusive actors.”

In addition, the new rules could effectively disconnect millions of Americans who do not have government-issued identification, including undocumented residents.

"For decades, civil libertarians have looked overseas at authoritarian countries where the government requires people to register to get a mobile phone to ensure they can be tracked. We never thought that would happen here," Jay Stanley, ACLU senior policy analyst, told CNET.