Misuse of cellular phones

Technological advances in telecommunications are indeed amazing and make a significant contribution to the smooth running of business operations. Nevertheless, we should also consider minimizing the negative impacts of such technological advances. The facts show that criminals have been taking advantage of these advances to increase the effectiveness of their activities. Prepaid cards for cellular telephones, for instance, can be misused by irresponsible persons as tools to assist in the commission of crimes and to escape detection or, at least, make it more difficult for them to be caught.

The writer is of the opinion that the government should take immediate action to prevent the aforesaid abuses in view of the fact that at present a lot of people are using cellular phones as part of their daily activities.

One of the many solutions that could possibly be considered by the government to overcome the impact of such misuse is the implementing of regulatory measures whereby each cellular phone must be provided with a certificate of registration as is the case with motor vehicles. In such a way, every purchase or transfer of a cellular phone would be traceable and, therefore, if a cellular phone with a prepaid card facility was misused as an instrument to commit a crime, the owner of that phone could easily be detected.

Some people would possibly react to this proposition by saying that it is not practical and would be impossible to implement. However, this writer believes that, on the contrary, based on a security approach the implementation of such a system would be reasonable and worth considering.

HASAN BASRI MUCHTAR

Jakarta