China begins to demand registration and real names from cell phone users

This week, China began demanding the real names of new users with a cell phone in an attempt to further reduce anonymity. Within three years, the real identities of all users must be registered with the government. Last month, China also required online gamers to register their real names in order to protect minors from online addictions and content deemed unhealthy by the government. This real name system affects most everything online.

Buying cell phones and posting to web forums would be covered by such a system. Implementing a real-name system for cell phone users will produce logistical challenges for the mobile carriers, while also creating fears about identity security, said Mark Natkin, managing director of Beijing-based Marbridge Consulting. Unregistered phone numbers could also very well become a more popular commodity.

Since street newsstands will no longer be able to sell SIM cards and cell phone accounts, these vendors could turn to selling unregistered phones. This will further complicate the system since millions of users have also used fake names when registering. Most of these phones come in the form of a pre-paid phone instead of a contract and will be harder to track the real individual.

“The policy on existing users is not being carried out very forcefully,” Xu said. “If existing users do not register their names, their service probably will not be discontinued.”

Over time, however, the government will, most likely, implement further rules. It makes sense for the Chinese government to ease into this new requirement. Many people will end up registering, making the tracking down of unregistered phones easier for the government. Once the majority of people have registered phones, harsh penalties can be implemented for those that aren’t. For now, it appears that the government is taking a soft push approach to letting people register on their own.

“I think it will be more secure and the carriers will be able to track and store my information,” she said…Li Junru, a student at China Agricultural University…

Cell phone users simply should register with their real identification, said Li Mi, a coffee shop worker. “This is good, it will be secure,” she said. “I know some people will be afraid about revealing their personal information, but I don’t think that will happen. The (companies) won’t give that out.”

While the citizens may believe that the companies won’t give out their information, this is highly short-sighted. The information is still in a database. There is also no guarantee that the phone companies won’t sell your information for a profit. This is done in many parts of the world already. Just because China claims to hate capitalism doesn’t mean they don’t like to make money.

Enforcing this policy on prepaid cards will become difficult. Chinese users could end up like the Mexicans. Most people didn’t register for fear of what would happen to the database of information. Turns out, they were right to worry. It is also rumored that forged documents will also work, at least for a while. Dissident or not, Chinese citizens should worry about where their information will end up. Once it’s out in the wild, you can’t ever truly get it back.