An FCC Plan Could End Anonymous Burner Phones in the US
The US telecoms regulator wants ID checks before you can buy a phone. Privacy groups say the plan would end anonymous burner phones and tie every American’s identity to a number.
July 17, 2026 – 11:00 am
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The US telecoms regulator wants ID checks before you can buy a phone. Privacy groups say the plan would end anonymous burner phones and tie every American’s identity to a number.
Buying a phone without handing over your identity could soon be impossible in the US. A Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proposal would force providers to run identity checks before switching on a line, as reported by Fortune.
What the proposal asks for:
Providers would have to collect a customer’s:
- Name
- Home address
- Government ID number
- A second phone number
Before activating or renewing service. The rules would cover traditional carriers, mobile networks, and internet-calling (VoIP) services.
The practical effect, critics say, is the end of the anonymous prepaid phone, better known as the burner. The FCC frames the rule as an anti-robocall measure. Its own filing states the data could also help investigate “fraud, espionage, or influence operations that undermine national security.”
Privacy groups push back
The proposal is "misguided and counterproductive," according to Sydney Saubestre of the Center for Democracy and Technology. It would "deny access to the most vulnerable, strip anonymity from those who need it most, and do little to stop the sophisticated scam operations it claims to target."
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the ACLU made a similar case in a joint filing. They called it "a data collection regime that harms everyday, law abiding Americans." They noted that the FTC has found most illegal robocalls originate from overseas, and fewer than half of US telecoms have fully implemented an existing call-authentication fix.
Who gets shut out?
The groups warn the rule would disproportionately affect:
- People who lack a driving licence (roughly 15 million US adults)
- Individuals without any government photo ID (2.6 million)
- Those relying on PO boxes or mail-forwarding addresses (unhoused people and domestic violence survivors)
There’s a safety angle too
An anonymous line can be a lifeline for someone fleeing abuse, the filing argues. It also highlights the risk of centralizing all that data in one place. AT&T disclosed in 2024 that hackers accessed call and text records tied to 109 million accounts. Comcast’s Xfinity reported a breach affecting around 36 million.
Not everyone objects
Some support the plan. Banking groups filed in favor through the Bank Policy Institute, citing fraud and scam losses of nearly $200bn in 2024.
Comments closed on June 25, with replies due by July 27.
The fight echoes global efforts from age-verification laws to online-safety rules. Privacy advocates increasingly warn about the dangers of ID collection.