i202 Fall 2010 School of Information, UC Berkeley

In an attempt to reduce spam, scams, and the spread of pornography via cell phone, the Chinese government is requiring citizens and visitors to provide identification when purchasing a SIM card. Working with government-control telecom companies, convenience store owners and street vendors, China hopes to organize a system in which all cell phone numbers and SIM cards can be linked to an individual.

According to the article, “Chinese cell phone users user received a dozen spam messages a week, and that three of every four users received messages that involved fraud…” The article also states that the majority of phones in China are not registered. Chinese officials hope that developing a system in which the state tracks phone numbers will clean up the current cell phone system, deterring people from sending spam, scams, and pornography. The proposed system shows how IO and IR are not two separate processes when developing an organizing system. Depending on how the information—phone number and identity— is organized, the Chinese government can immediately track down spammers and scammers based on phone number. How, however, will the Chinese government differentiate spam from other types of information? Does this mean the Chinese government will track the content all messages?

Under the proposed plan, China’s state-run telecom companies, convenience store owners and vendors who will gather and organize the information. As of September 1, 2010, owners and vendors—“who have been selling anonymous SIM cards”— will no longer be able to sell SIM cards until all they are trained to register citizens into the new system. It should be noted that the information collected will be organized at the time of purchase, rather than afterward. I wonder, however, how storeowners and vendors are being affected- in terms of lost revenue and disruption of their day-to-day business?

The article does not specify what kind of information will collected in order to identify a person in the new system. Will it be name, address, identification number, photograph, etc. or some combination? What kind of controlled vocabulary will be used? Regardless, the issue of privacy arises. Perhaps the biggest concern is that the system will allow the Chinese government to monitor citizens. Although the government claims that the system will reduce spam by being able to trace spammers, what if it is used to monitor all cell phone activity? For example, the system can potentially be used to find and punish individuals who send messages that have nothing to do with spam—i.e. messages that speak out against the government. I also wonder what else is being organized in the system besides identity and numbers. Will the government use the system to tag and classify those who are potential threats to society, causing those citizens to be monitored even more? Although China argues that this new system will clean up the current cell phone system, it is obvious that this system can potentially harm citizens. China can use the same system to monitor everything citizens say and send via mobile phones—not just spam.

Click here to read the article.