FC: Canadian police want photo ID to buy a cellphone

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Mon Jul 21 2003 - 08:38:43 PDT

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    From: Tim Meehan <timat_private>
    To: declanat_private, daveat_private, efc-talkat_private
    Subject: RCMP wants photo ID along with cellphone purchase
    Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2003 11:33:41 -0400
    Organization: Ontario Consumers for Safe Access to Recreational Cannabis
    
    I really don't see how this will solve the problem.  And also, the GSM cellular
    phone I currently have was purchased in Vancouver, and is currently using a
    Toronto SIM -- purchased privately with no involvement of the carrier
    whatsoever.
    
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    Newshawk: CMAP
    Source: CBC
    Pubdate: Fri, 18 Jul 2003
    Webpage: http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/07/18/Consumers/photophone_030718
    
    RCMP wants photo ID along with cellphone purchase
    
    Last Updated Fri, 18 Jul 2003 16:11:35
    
    ST. JOHN'S - The RCMP drug squad in Newfoundland and Labrador would like
    to see people buying cellular phones and other wireless communications
    devices obliged to present photo identification.
    
    Sgt. Greg Smith says officers have a hard time investigating some drug
    dealers because they can buy many phones and remain anonymous.
    
    "A lot of people are using false names, getting other people to get the
    phone in their names, and things like this," says Smith. "It's hard to
    keep up and keep track of all of these things."
    
    One recent investigation lasted more than five months and cost more than
    $100,000. Police say it was because the suspect used 11 different
    phones, none of which was in his name.
    
    The police want to be able to monitor the calls and find out who's on
    them. That's easier when people are using regular telephones that have
    known owners and fixed addresses.
    
    Stores don't require the name of a cellphone purchaser.
    
    Retailers say they have no reason not to sell phones to anyone who can
    afford one, and they're under no obligation to ask for identification.
    
    Dealer caught just outside the store
    
    Lamonte Clarke, a sales associate at a Radio Shack outlet in St. John's,
    says one person bought 54 phones over six months.
    
    "He came into the store, and he used to buy a lot of cell phones, buy
    pre-paid cell phone cards, that kind of stuff," says Clarke "They found
    him actually dealing outside the store."
    
    "You shouldn't just be able to use any name, and buy a telephone and put
    it in anybody else's name and go ahead and use it," says the RCMP's
    Smith. "It's causing us some real challenges."
    
    Defence lawyer Bob Simmonds says he doesn't care about the challenges
    faced by police.
    
    "I am not going to feel very happy if I want to go in and buy something
    at Radio Shack, and they say, 'you're going to fill out this information.'"
    
    "Perhaps it's just me, but I have a real aversion to providing the state
    or Big Brother with information…because they say they have a certain
    concern," Simmonds says.
    
    He says even criminals have a right to privacy.
    
    Written by CBC News Online staff
    
    
    --
    Tim Meehan, Communications Director
    Ontario Consumers for Safe Access to Recreational Cannabis
    timat_private * http://www.ocsarc.org * 416-854-6343
    
    
    
    
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