Mobile phone users won't be asked to register
The Government has confirmed that mobile phone users won't be required to register with authorities to get a SIM or handset.


The Government has confirmed it has dropped plans to force anyone buying a mobile phone to register with the authorities.
Responding to an e-petition on the Number 10 website, a Government statement said there were "no plans to require owners of mobile phones to be registered with statutory authorities."
The petition was started by Privacy International's head Simon Davies, and gained just 266 signatures, but still garnered a response from the Government.
That response claimed that the Government had consulted on how communications data could be used to "protect and safeguard the public" from serious crime and terrorism.
While it considered a database of all communications information - a plan which has since been dropped - there were no plans to register mobile phones, it claimed.
"The consultation paper did seek views on options for maintaining our vital communications data capabilities to protect the public against a background of rapid technological change. It rejected an option for a single database holding all communications data," the statement said.
"It did not suggest that a registration system for mobile phones would be a useful or alternative tool to a single database, nor was such a registration system that would be connected to a single database of communications data contemplated in the consultation paper," it added.
Get the ITPro daily newsletter
Sign up today and you will receive a free copy of our Future Focus 2025 report - the leading guidance on AI, cybersecurity and other IT challenges as per 700+ senior executives
Other countries require mobile operators to keep data on the identity of those buying phones, including on pay-as-you-go (PAYG) contracts, and the Government's statement doesn't preclude such a possibility from happening in the UK. In fact, the communications database it wanted to create will now be run by ISPs.
Freelance journalist Nicole Kobie first started writing for ITPro in 2007, with bylines in New Scientist, Wired, PC Pro and many more.
Nicole the author of a book about the history of technology, The Long History of the Future.
-
Asus ZenScreen Fold OLED MQ17QH review
Reviews A stunning foldable 17.3in OLED display – but it's too expensive to be anything more than a thrilling tech demo
By Sasha Muller
-
How the UK MoJ achieved secure networks for prisons and offices with Palo Alto Networks
Case study Adopting zero trust is a necessity when your own users are trying to launch cyber attacks
By Rory Bathgate