Nick Szabo  🔑

Not their job. A phone number is not a general ID or a security token. It is just a short number made up by a phone company for the purpose of using that company to call or text. If other companies or people try to use it for something different that is their stupid problem.https://twitter.com/mat/status/1167605500919173120 …

I don’t agree in the slightest. It is and should be their job. Their service provides people with a phone number - SIM swapping is the unrightful transference of that phone number. Plus, phone companies market has shifted dramatically as tech evolves. They market data now too

SIM card security is designed for the minor loss scenario of somebody having to tell the people they want to text or call them a new number. All other expectations are hallucinations about free security that have nothing to do with the phone company's actual business or job.

An MNO sells, delivers, and bills services to customers. If they offer data (they all do), that means that they provide a service of not only call/text, but also data. If they offer such a service, that means the liability is not just for call/text. Terpin proved this in court.

In this case the contract, which is an idiosyncratic deal between the phone company & the recipient of their data, applies. Not some idiotically false generalizations about SIM card security by third parties who haven't paid the phone company to agree to any such added security.

I feel very strongly in the other direction. If SIM cards are not meant to be protected, then data shouldn’t be offered in the first place. Setting people up for failure. Agree to disagree (Terpin sued ATT for this exact problem and won)