While it is true that I associate prepaid cellphones with criminals, that is not their only purpose. I don't think all these phones should be linked to their owners. On one hand, this could help reduce crime, but on the other hand, who decides what "crime" is? For example, political dissidents could use prepaid cellphones for more anonymity from the government they are in opposition to (the same government who has access to their cell phone records). Also, parents who are divorcing and going through custody battles over their children may want to be more discreet. An angry ex-wife may see that her ex-husband is in contact with a former girlfriend; this relationship may be perfectly innocent, but could still be used to slander him in a court of law. A school teacher may want to keep her contact with an Alcoholics Anonymous Sponsor off-record, or a doctor may not want it exposed that he frequently calls a drug rehab facility to check on his child.
There is so little privacy left in this world, so I don't want the government to take away what little we have left. This is especially important considering the direction government agencies are headed. The NSA is building a huge internet surveillance storage facility in Bluffdale Utah. The FBI and CIA can get access to all their targets' digital information under the Patriot Act umbrella. Programs such as these already infringe on our privacy, where will the be in 10 years? How about 20? We still hark back to laws and rights in the Constitution, which was written in 1787, over 200 years ago. If a law mandating this phone-to-owner linkage is implemented, it isn't going away. So what's more important: yet another avenue for "Big Brother" to track down criminals, or our personal liberties?
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