FCC Proposes Mandatory ID and Address Collection for All Telecom Customers

The FCC has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking directing U.S. telecom providers to collect government-issued identification numbers, physical addresses, and additional data from every new and renewing customer (FCC NPRM, 2024). Paragraph one: The 404 Media report on the proposal states that carriers must store this information to address robocall and scam complaints, with extra fields required for business and foreign accounts including IP addresses and intended use (https://www.404media.co/fcc-wants-to-kill-burner-phones-by-forcing-telecoms-to-get-all-customers-ids/). Paragraph two: Jay Stanley of the ACLU is quoted in the same report describing the measure as eliminating anonymous plans, referencing prior overseas registration systems. Paragraph three: FCC docket records list potential secondary uses of the collected data for law enforcement queries beyond initial scam prevention.