The Federal Communications Commission is proposing that almost everyone in America has to submit a photo ID and a residential address in order to obtain phone services. Copies of photo IDs will be retained by phone companies for later retrieval by law enforcement. The supposed purpose of is to stop fraud and scams initiated by telephone.
✅ These new, invasive, unprecedented requirements will deprive an estimated 90 million Americans who use prepaid wireless and VoIP phone service of their privacy rights. There has never before been a legal requirement for Americans to prove their identity to have a phone number.
✅ This will not reduce phone scams. Only law abiding citizens will be impacted. Criminals will just provide fake IDs or pay others to obtain phone service for them, as they already do.
✅ There are many things the FCC could do, but refuses to do, to stop phone scams. Such measures include:
⚡ Investigating scam phone calls traced to their source by phone companies;
⚡ Investigating case reports submitted by phone companies;
⚡ Investigating complaints submitted by consumers and analyzing such complaints to determine the specific phone services most often used by criminals;
⚡ Complying with Section 11 of the TRACED Act and submitting evidence of criminal robocalling and caller ID spoofing to the Justice Department;
⚡ Helping to dismantle SIM box networks; and
⚡ Making information about phone numbers used for scams public.
FVRO’s comments can be viewed HERE.
Please take a moment and call or write your Member of Congress to demand the FCC do its job to protect Americans from scams without depriving people of their right to privacy.
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