Privacy Rights and Prepaid Communication Services

Privacy Rights and Prepaid Communication Services A survey of prepaid mobile phone regulation and registration policies among OECD member states* RESEARCH REPORT FUNDED BY AND FOR THE OFFICE OF THE PRIVACY COMMISSIONER OF CANADA Dr. Gordon Gow, University of Alberta Purpose and Objectives Questions Findings Prepaid Mobile Phones in the OECD (2003) 1. What is the justification and related evidence to support regulatory measures to eliminate the sale of 'anonymous' prepaid mobile phone Justification for and Against Prepaid Registration The growth of mobile telephone service in Canada and around the world has been phenomenal, with much of that growth directly attributable to the adoption of prepaid ("pay-as-you-go") plans. Prepaid phones today represent a significant and growing percent- age of the domestic and international mobile phone markets. Korea service in countries similar to Canada? The percentage of of prepaid mobile phones in a country that requires registration The justification in support of a prepaid registration requirement in most countries has mostly been expressed in terms of eliminating "anonymous" users as a means to improving efficiency for law enforcement and national security. Other reasons include protection of minors from adult content on 3G networks, support for emergency services dispatch, maintenance of commercial directory services, enabling local number portability, and for certain value-added services (e.g., location based services). The percentage of of prepaid mobile phones in a country that requires no registration Finland 2. What is the justification and related evidence to support regulatory measures to protect the sale of 'anonymous' prepaid mobile phone service in countries similar to Canada? The percentageof of prepaid mobile phones in a country that was not surveyed While this development has been hailed as a marketing success in the provision of competitive telephone service, it also has raised concerns within the law enforcement community about the possible use of "anonymous" prepaid mobile phones for criminal or terrorist activities. In response, a number of countries have passed laws to require mobile carriers to collect personal information from their prepaid mobile phone customers as a condition of service. Canada has not yet introduced such regulations and it is not clear that it will do so in the future. Japan The percentage of postpaid mobile phones of the OECD 3. What is the feasibility of implementing and enforcing regulatory measures intended to eliminate the sale of anonymous prepaid mobile phone service in countries similar to Canada? United States The justification given against prepaid registration requirement is cited as imposing unreasonable costs on mobile phone retailers, accidental/illegal use and disclosure of personal information, questionable effectiveness as a deterrence to criminal activity, and prac- tical limits to implementing and enforcing regulatory measures Denmark 4. If regulatory measures are not feasible then what type of alternative measures have been or might be adopted to achieve similar ends? Nevertheless, the possibility of prepaid registration ought to be a matter of interest for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner be- cause the legal and ethical implications of such a measure remain uncertain. Moreover, public deliberation on both sides of the issue in Canada has been encumbered by a lack of information about what objectives such a requirement might realistically seek to achieve or how it might be implemented and enforced. Canada 5. If anonymous prepaid mobile phones continue to be permitted then what impact might this have on the accuracy and usefulness of any form of integrated public number database, either planned or envisaged, in countries similar to Canada? There is little information about those countries with registration on how they plan to monitor and enforce compliance, aside from disconnecting unregistered customers. In some countries the selling of secondhand mobile phones needs to be reported to the gov- Australia ernment. Notice to Vodafone Japan customers Iceland The period of time a mobile operator is required to retain customer information after prepaid service is "terminated" is unclear. The division of responsibility between mobile operators and customers about updating prepaid registration records and any related liabil- ity is uncertain. OECD The purpose of this survey is to address this information gap by gathering details on the current state of regulation of prepaid mobile phones across a comparable range of countries in the OECD. Political cartoon about the Swiss ban of "anonymous" prepaid phones, Nebelspalter magazine, Sweden. OECD Important Notice for Vodafone Prepaid Mobile Phone Customers France Government authorities have so far provided little information concerning the anticipated cost of registration, monitoring or enforcing compliance. As of April 2005, Registration of Customer Information is Required. Switzerland If you fail to register by October 31, 2005, swisscom Psst. Kleiner! Ich geb dir Geld, wenn du mir auf deinen Namen eine Prepaid-Card holst. Your Prepaid Service. Will Be Suspended. Possible Use Of Alternative Measures Norway Suspensions of service will be carried out from November 2005. Among the countries surveyed in this study, there has been no indication to suggest that an alternative measures for identifying pre- paid users have been tested or adopted. However, Australia has proposed an electronic verification of customers during the "post-sale" activation process. Austria billionton Bluetooth cass Germany carrnage service provider coura In the case of Germany and the Netherlands, there is some indication that IMSI-catcher technology has been used by law enforcement agencies to identify mobile phone users. The United States' prepaid communications lobby has proposed a standardized Call Detail Recording (CDR) system instead of a prepaid registration requirement. empliance plan. Poland nformation about customers of pre -paid services supports law enfo al security agencies in their investigations and assists timely responses by mergency service organisations (i.e. police, fire and ambulance services) to emergen 000 calls from pre -paid services. "Psst .. Kid! I'll give you some Sweden money if you buy me a prepaid card using your name." Information relating to Compliance with identity check process for pre paid mobile phone services is also available on the AMCA website. Discussion Paper - Improving the ID check processes Countries Surveyed For This Report Spain Impact on IPND In March 2006, ACMA released a discussion paper: "Improving Identity Check Processes for Pre -paid Mobile Services " (the Discussion Paper), as some stakeholders had raised concerns about the current regime The changes proposed in the Discussion Paper involve a shift away from identity checking by third party dealers and agents at the point of sale to verification by the service provider In July 2005, the Australian regulator issued a discussion paper indicating that a failure to validate and verify prepaid mobile phones will have a significant impact on the accuracy and utility of the national Integrated Public Number Database. Luxembourg There is registration of prepaid mobile Phone Users There is no registration of prepaid mobile Phone Users No response to the survey itself. The proposal suggested in the Discussion Paper was to provide a single, flexible identity verification process to replace the three alternative processes currently allowed under the Determination. ACMA sought submissions from interested parties in response to the proposals in the Discussion Paper. ACMA is approaching this process with an open mind and sees the Netherlands submission process as an opportunity to gather as much information as possible from a broad range of sources regarding concerns that may exist about the current regime and how to improve it. No country reports having an IPND like Australia, but some such as Germany and the Netherlands require that operators make their customer records available to law enforcement agencies. Australia's experience indicates that even with mandatory registration for prepaid mobile phones, customer records have a lower accuracy when compared with postpaid phone services. ACMA is currently considering these submissions and will decide on an appropriate way forward in coming months. Slovak Republic Twenty four (24) submissions were received from a range of contributors. submissions received contain confidential information and, therefore, cannot be published Some of the on this website. O Top Belgium Submissions Index Experience from Australia also suggests that a robust and efficient, and possibly expensive, identity validation and verification system must be in place in order to ensure accurate record keeping and for the maintenance of an IPND system. Attorney-General's Department 2. Australian Consumers' Association Greece Australian Communications Industry Forum aljan Federal Police deral Police - Telecommunications Interceptie unications Associat United Kingdom fhe Australian Communication and Media Authority's website for the review of identity checks for prepaid mobile phones.*** New Zealand Ireland C* "We got the impression that most stores would probably call the police if you tried to force your details on them, and we were particularly impressed by the ease with which you could buy them in France, where they're actually supposed to take your details." John Lettice, reporter, The Register, UK "The community [now] has confidence that crime is not being facilitated through anonymous ... SIMS. Especially at risk are crimes like stalking, harassment, threats to interfere with wit- nesses. Also that law enforcement has confidence in a data- Turkey NOKIA Czech Republic SIM blocked base for emergency calls." Executive from Australia telecom industry Hungary Portugal serv A Test of Reasonable Appropriateness LG 1300i Camera Home $15 Italy with FiAgreement S1S Regular price In Canada an organization“may collect, use or disclose personal information only for purposes that a reasonable person would con- sider are appropriate in the circumstances. "However there are differing ideas of what is reasonable and appropriate. - Colour screen Polyphonic ringtones • Web Mexico wsing No Data def 3 2 abc 4 ghi 5 iki mno 6 "[Requiring customer identity verification] raises the spectre of convenience store clerks demanding and recording-and then transmitting-people's sensitive personal information, such as driver's license and credit card numbers, as a condition of pur- chasing pre-paid phones or phone cards.This would be a gross invasion of privacy." Privacy Commissioner of Canada "... the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure introduced a new obli- gation for mandatory identification of buyers of pre-paid GSM-cards. The proposal is brought as an anti-terrorism measure."European Digital Rgihts, EDRI-gram South Africa (non-OECD) 7 pgrs 8 tuv wxyz 9 20 40 60 100 Percentage of total mobile phone market "Removing the anonymous cards will be good for the fight against criminals." Jiri Kolar, Polish Police President UNIVERSITY OF SIMON FRASER Office of the Commissariat ALBERTA UNIVERSITY VANCOU VER Privacy Commissioner of Canada à la protection de la vie privée du Canada QUAECUMOU VERA SOMMES Notes:*Available Online at http://www.sfu.ca/cprost/docs/GowPrivacyRightsPrepaidCommServices.pdf **Data from OECD (2005) Communication Outlook - ***http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_100565-Map from Wikipedia blank maps-Quotes and other material are fully cited in the report