Insult as You Please

3^rd August 2007

The Malta Independent - Friday Wisdom

The system whereby one can acquire a mobile phone connection in total anonymity is nothing but a licence to insult others with complete immunity. All one has to do is walk into any bucket shop selling SIM cards and with five liri one can start firing off offensive phone calls or text messages without any risk of having his or her identity discovered.

I never understood why this should be so. I never understood why is it that vendors of SIM cards are not obliged to procure the identity of their client and to register such identity with the mobile phone operator. All fixed lines are registered in someone’s name even if operated on a prepaid system without any billing. Why should mobile phones be any different?

It is one thing not having your number listed in a public directory but quite another having a telephone line which is not registered in anybody’s name not even with the telephone company which in consequence is allowing its network to be used for a totally anonymous and often abusive service.

Whenever I used to ask why is the system so the stock reply I got was that the telephone companies were all for line registration but internationally the practice was different and the Malta Communications Authority (MCA) was following international practice by allowing unregistered prepaid mobile phone connections.

It seems that international practice is changing. Italy and Switzerland have already moved to compulsory registration and Britain and Germany are moving in that direction too. Frankly I think the MCA should do the same.

There are pretty few things that one can do with complete anonymity in a civilised society and certainly use of mobile telephony should not be among them.

For those like yours truly who have shifted most of their purchases to bank debit or credit cards, they leave an automatic trail of identity behind whatever they purchase. Even for those who still prefer cash as their favourite medium of exchange – modern society compels them to leave behind an identity trail. One is likely to find that most acquisitions of more than negligible value are made either through loyalty schemes operated by many retailers trying to win the continued custom of their clients or is otherwise registered in their name for purpose of warranty.

From mobile handsets to television sets, from internet subscription to cable television service, from airline travel ticket to hotel reservation one cannot obtain any such product or service without registering identity. Gone are the days when one could accumulate wealth in a bank bearer account. All items of value, from property to investments, from works of art to jewellery, the owner somehow leaves an identity trail of ownership either by direct registration or by indirect measures of protection such as insurance.

Even wealth accumulated in cash bearer form is now being attracted to renounce anonymity through special amnesty schemes promoting registration. The effort to regulate and control against abuse through registration of most things we do, buy or sell has become necessary in a civilised society which has then enacted data protection responsibilities to ensure that the collected data is only used for the intended purposes authorised by law or by clients’ consent.

It is therefore quite incomprehensible how a powerful tool such as a mobile telephone connection can easily be acquired in total anonymity permitting abusers total immunity in harassing and insulting others who make perfectly regular use of their mobile telephony service.

Most people I spoke to, admit having received harassing anonymous text messages so the problem is not exactly small. Anonymous messages are the technological equivalent of anonymous letters of old. Controlling anonymous letters was neigh impossible, as one cannot feasibly force registration of all letters without killing the very scope of the postal service. And in any event, anonymous letters left hard evidence which could be used to trace the originator by handwriting expertise and forensic investigations.

Anonymous text messages leave no trail whatsoever except the line connection number registered on the SIM card which is not registered under anybody’s identity. Even if technology could hypothetically permit identification of the location of the anonymous transmitter, being mobile anonymous text harassers they can easily move from location to location to avoid any possible trail back to their identity.

It is not too soon for the MCA to acknowledge that there is a problem with anonymous text message harassment and put order in the market by insisting on registration of all prepaid mobile connections over a reasonable period of time failing which the service has to be disconnected, and to provide for all new connections to be registered against proof of identity of its user.

My attitude has always been to ignore such anonymous text messages but it is annoying to feel like you are being watched over with someone texting you to tell where you were and with whom. The freedom of those who feel they have a right to harass anonymously is limiting the freedom of those who mind their own business and have no qualms in having their mobile number registered formally in their name and put it on their business visiting cards. The MCA should shift from protecting offenders to protecting bona fide users.