Pakistan Requiring Fingerprints For Cellphone Use

It would appear that terrorist use of cell phones to call and light up explosives has finally gotten to the Pakistani government. This week the country has had an order passed down requiring users of cell phones to get their fingerprints registered before they can use – or continue using – phone technology. If a person wants to use a cell phone with a SIM card, they need to register that phone with the government attached to their unique finger print – or they'll receive no service.

It's not the phone you're going to be registering, but the SIM card. While it's possible that phones COULD be used without SIM card activation, call functionality and internet connectivity – besides Wi-Fi – won't function.

Users have until the 13th of April to register their fingerprints with the government inside Pakistan. After that time, cell connectivity will shut off for cards not registered and connected to user prints.

According to the BBC, this enactment was made in response to a cell-connected event that took place in December of 2014 in which Peshawar's Army Public School was targeted and more than 150 people died.

"It's a massive, nationwide exercise with a tight deadline, but hopefully we will be able to verify our customers by the April deadline," said Omar Manzur, an executive at Mobilink to the Washington Post in Pakistan.

"We have sent out 700 mobile vans all across Pakistan to reach out to these far-flung areas, the villages and small towns."

Can you imagine such an undertaking in the United States?