Terror Concern Brings Crack Down on Prepaid Cell Phones

News 8 in Austin reports that hoping to curb the use of hard-to-track prepaid cell phones by terror suspects, Texas Sen. John Cornyn and New York Sen. Chuck Schumer have cosponsored legislation requiring consumers to produce identification before buying such phones.

That’s rattled some civil liberties groups, who say the bill may threaten privacy rights.

Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile and TracFone are some of the major players in a $16 billion industry, offering unlimited cell phone plans without contracts.

While prepaid phones might be cheaper and more accessible for people with limited incomes or poor credit, the phones can also be purchased anonymously and thrown away after each use. Consequently, they’ve gained a reputation of being popular among drug dealers, gang members and terrorists wanting to make their criminal activity untraceable.

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