The Federal Communications Commission is poised to begin forcing the country’s telecom companies to collect names, addresses and government identification numbers for every cellphone customer.

If adopted -- a likely outcome given the FCC’s current Republican majority who support it -- the rules would effectively outlaw burner phones, devices that aren't specifically tied to identifying data, allowing the privacy-minded to maintain their anonymity.

“For decades, civil libertarians have looked overseas at authoritarian countries where the government requires people to register to get a mobile phone to ensure they can be tracked. We never thought that would happen here,” Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union, told CNET in an email.

The impact won’t just be felt by the digital privacy community, either. By requiring a government-issued identification number, the Know-Your-Customer requirements could leave millions of Americans unable to get a phone at all. As of 2024, nearly 21 million voting-age US citizens don’t have a current driver’s license, with Black and Hispanic Americans disproportionately less likely to have one, according to a report from the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement. Another 12 million people living in the US are estimated to be undocumented immigrants.

A Texas woman has filed a lawsuit against McDonald’s after allegedly becoming seriously ill following a breakfast she purchased at a Manhattan restaurant, according to The New York Post. Yvette Hinds filed the suit in the Manhattan Supreme Court, according to court documents. The claim centers on a Sausage McMuffin with Egg she says she bought at a Midtown location in May 2023.