They've had them in Europe for years. Several European police forces have tried to ban them on the grounds that it makes both retail and mass surveillance more difficult. And now it looks as if “they are finally coming to the USA.
Say hello to the disposal cell phone. Buy it for cash at retail, throw it away when you are done with it, and make calls that while not untraceable are certainly going to be much harder to link back to you. The phone of choice for the tourist, for the young and poor without credit histories, for when you need an extra phone because someone in the family is going out of town, but the tool also for every dissident and whistleblower, and perhaps for drug dealers too. Pity the web site gives no idea what they'll cost. And amusing that the web site markets the phones with a clip from CSI Miami in which the disposable phone “provided a crucial clue.”
No doubt we'll be hearing about attempts to ban these pretty soon.
