FCC plans ID mandate that could block anonymous use of prepaid burner phones

美国联邦通信委员会（FCC）计划推行身份验证强制令，或将终结预付费“一次性手机”的匿名使用

A Federal Communications Commission proposal to collect more identifying information from phone users has drawn protests from privacy-focused groups and advocates for domestic violence survivors. The plan is ostensibly designed to thwart robocallers but could make it difficult for individuals to use prepaid phones that can protect their privacy, devices that are often referred to as burner phones.

美国联邦通信委员会（FCC）近日提出一项提案，要求收集手机用户更多的身份信息，此举引发了隐私保护组织及家庭暴力受害者权益倡导者的抗议。该计划表面上旨在打击骚扰电话，但可能会导致个人难以使用能够保护隐私的预付费手机（通常被称为“一次性手机”）。

The FCC is seeking comment on the proposal to require phone companies to obtain and retain, at a minimum, “the name, physical address, government issued identification number, and an alternate telephone number of any new and renewing customer before granting access to its services.” Critics say this would prevent people from using prepaid phones without revealing their identities.

FCC 目前正就该提案征求意见，要求电信公司在向新用户或续费用户提供服务前，至少必须获取并保留其“姓名、实际住址、政府签发的身份证件号码以及备用电话号码”。批评人士指出，这将使人们无法在不泄露身份的情况下使用预付费手机。

Technology Safety Specialist Belle Torek of the National Network to End Domestic Violence told the FCC in a filing yesterday that “many of the behaviors and privacy-protective measures the Commission appears to view as suspicious are, for survivors, well-established and often life-preserving safety practices.”

“全国终结家庭暴力网络”（National Network to End Domestic Violence）的技术安全专家贝尔·托雷克（Belle Torek）在昨日提交给 FCC 的文件中表示：“委员会似乎认为可疑的许多行为和隐私保护措施，对于受害者而言，是行之有效且往往能保命的安全手段。”

A similar group, the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual & Domestic Violence, told the FCC today that “implementation of these rules would harm victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking and actually create more harm for survivors trying to flee often deadly, crisis situations.” It said that “many victims and survivors do not have reliable access to identifying documents” and “cannot disclose their location when fleeing a perpetrator or when participating in address confidentiality programs.”

类似的组织“堪萨斯州反性暴力与家庭暴力联盟”（Kansas Coalition Against Sexual & Domestic Violence）今日也向 FCC 表示：“实施这些规则将伤害性侵、家暴和跟踪受害者，并对那些试图逃离致命危机处境的幸存者造成更大的伤害。”该组织指出，“许多受害者和幸存者无法可靠地获取身份证明文件”，且“在逃离施暴者或参与地址保密计划时，无法披露自己的位置”。

Harm to people fleeing domestic abuse

对逃离家庭暴力者的伤害

The FCC argues that expanding Know-Your-Customer (KYC) requirements will reduce robocalls by deterring scammers from getting phone service and by making it easier to identify scammers that do get access to the phone network. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said some phone companies “are not doing enough to vet their customers, allowing bad actors to infiltrate our US phone networks… This item would close the gaps that exist in originating providers’ KYC obligations and ensures that providers cannot turn a blind eye while US phone networks are exploited and Americans are defrauded.”

FCC 辩称，扩大“了解你的客户”（KYC）要求将通过阻止诈骗者获取电话服务，并使识别已接入电话网络的诈骗者变得更容易，从而减少骚扰电话。FCC 主席布伦丹·卡尔（Brendan Carr）表示，一些电信公司“在审查客户方面做得不够，导致不法分子渗透进美国的电话网络……该条款将填补原始服务提供商在 KYC 义务上存在的漏洞，并确保提供商在电话网络被利用、美国民众被诈骗时，不能视而不见。”

The National Network to End Domestic Violence described extensive concerns with the list of potential information the FCC may require collecting. The proposal “asks whether providers should exclude or subject to heightened scrutiny virtual addresses, shared office locations, PO boxes, and mail-forwarding services, and whether providers should rely on customer-characteristic ‘red flags’ to identify potentially suspicious customers,” the group said. “While these questions arise in the context of fraud prevention, they also implicate practices that survivors routinely use to protect themselves from being monitored or harmed by abusive actors.”

“全国终结家庭暴力网络”对 FCC 可能要求收集的信息清单表达了广泛的担忧。该组织指出，提案中“询问了提供商是否应排除或加强对虚拟地址、共享办公地点、邮政信箱和邮件转发服务的审查，以及提供商是否应依赖客户特征‘危险信号’来识别潜在的可疑客户”。该组织表示：“虽然这些问题是在预防欺诈的背景下提出的，但它们也涉及幸存者为保护自己免受施暴者监控或伤害而经常使用的手段。”

The proposal “asks whether providers should collect copies of government-issued identification, verify information using public databases; consumer reporting agencies; financial institutions; and commercial records, and retain those records for four years after the customer relationship ends,” the group said. People fleeing domestic abuse “may be living in a shelter, transitional housing, a hotel, a car, a friend’s spare room, or another location they cannot safely disclose,” the group’s filing said. “Many rely on address confidentiality programs (ACPs), governmental programs that provide survivors with a substitute legal address and mail-forwarding services precisely because disclosure of a residential address can expose them to renewed violence.”

该组织称，提案还“询问提供商是否应收集政府签发的身份证件复印件，通过公共数据库、消费者征信机构、金融机构和商业记录来验证信息，并在客户关系结束后保留这些记录四年”。该组织的文件指出，逃离家庭暴力的人“可能住在避难所、过渡性住房、酒店、车里、朋友的空房间，或其他他们无法安全披露的地点”。“许多人依赖地址保密计划（ACP），这是一项为幸存者提供替代性合法地址和邮件转发服务的政府项目，因为披露居住地址可能会使他们再次面临暴力威胁。”

“Horrible for everyone’s privacy”

“对每个人的隐私来说都是一场灾难”

Victims of abuse frequently relocate and need to establish new email accounts and phone numbers, the FCC was told. While the National Network to End Domestic Violence is focused on domestic violence survivors, the group pointed out that similar concerns about the FCC plan have been “raised by leading privacy and civil liberties organizations.”

FCC 被告知，受害者经常需要搬迁，并需要建立新的电子邮件账户和电话号码。虽然“全国终结家庭暴力网络”专注于家庭暴力幸存者，但该组织指出，领先的隐私和公民自由组织也对 FCC 的计划提出了类似的担忧。

Eric Null, director of the Privacy & Data Project at the Center for Democracy & Technology, told 404 Media recently that “to address the scourge of illegal robocalls, the FCC has unfortunately proposed to force every wireless subscriber in the nation to sacrifice their privacy and give up significant personal details before receiving or renewing a wireless line. While some carriers already collect such details, there are specific circumstances where a person may need privacy and anonymity when seeking a cell phone, including if that person is a victim of domestic violence, or is a journalist or whistleblower.”

民主与技术中心（Center for Democracy & Technology）隐私与数据项目主任埃里克·纳尔（Eric Null）最近告诉 404 Media：“为了解决非法骚扰电话的祸害，FCC 不幸地提议强制全国每一位无线用户在开通或续费无线线路前，牺牲隐私并交出重要的个人详细信息。虽然一些运营商已经收集了此类信息，但在某些特定情况下，人们在申请手机时确实需要隐私和匿名，例如家庭暴力受害者、记者或举报人。”

Chao Jun Liu, a senior legislative associate at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told CNET that “collecting all this data is horrible for everyone’s privacy. You have to ask, do you trust the government to have that information at this current moment in time? A government that has proven that they are trying to centralize and weaponize your information.”

电子前沿基金会（Electronic Frontier Foundation）的高级立法助理刘超君（Chao Jun Liu，音译）告诉 CNET：“收集所有这些数据对每个人的隐私来说都是一场灾难。你必须问问自己，在当前这个时刻，你信任政府掌握这些信息吗？一个已经证明其正试图将你的信息集中化并武器化的政府。”

Robocallers can evade ID rules, group says

组织称骚扰电话制造者可以规避身份验证规则

Another filing opposing the plan came from the Consumer Access & Choice Coalition, which said it represents “small, nomadic Voice over Internet Protocol (‘VoIP’), 2nd-line application-based VoIP, and wireless service providers.” The industry group said the FCC should regulate abusive behavior by voice service providers that knowingly or recklessly facilitate illegal robocalls, and not impose limits on “ordinary consumer anonymity.”

另一个反对该计划的文件来自“消费者准入与选择联盟”（Consumer Access & Choice Coalition），该组织称其代表了“小型、移动式互联网语音协议（VoIP）、基于应用程序的第二线路 VoIP 以及无线服务提供商”。该行业组织表示，FCC 应该监管那些故意或鲁莽地协助非法骚扰电话的语音服务提供商的滥用行为，而不是限制“普通消费者的匿名权”。

Requiring the collection of personal information could harm people seeking privacy without substantially lessening robocalls, the group said. “If applied without careful tailoring, these proposals would impose significant costs, privacy risks, cybersecurity exposure, and access barriers on lawful consumer-focused services and their users, while doing little to deter sophisticated illegal robocallers.”

该组织表示，强制收集个人信息可能会伤害寻求隐私的人，却无法实质性地减少骚扰电话。“如果这些提案在没有经过仔细调整的情况下实施，将给合法的消费者服务及其用户带来巨大的成本、隐私风险、网络安全隐患和准入障碍，同时对那些老练的非法骚扰电话制造者几乎没有威慑作用。”