Re:The $24B Data Business That Telcos Don't Want to Talk About
by aianus on Wednesday October 28, 2015 @01:57AM
(#10463030)
> it was incredibly hard anywhere in the world (maybe I don't know where to look)
I was never asked for any sort of ID to get a SIM in Mexico or Vietnam. In any case, retail mobile store workers don't care enough / can't tell a real document from a fake one.
Re:The $24B Data Business That Telcos Don't Want to Talk About
by jessedhillon on Tuesday October 27, 2015 @05:13PM
(#10461186)
When I was in Europe and Latin America both, I could buy SIMs by writing down whatever number I concocted for my DNI. Now, I actually wrote my passport number down but nobody really looked. One time I used my CA drivers licence, which could have been a Boy Scout troop membership card for all anyone cared.
Re:The $24B Data Business That Telcos Don't Want to Talk About
by e12e on Tuesday October 27, 2015 @09:38PM
(#10462386)
Note that document forgery is a "real crime" most everywhere - so if you were caught (perhaps due to some unrelated investigation) - it might not be the best idea.
I'm not saying you shouldn't break the law to preserver your anonymity (at your own discretion) -- I'm just saying it's something to take into consideration. If you for example fear that you might get dropped in a black site, fed polonium or pushed down some stairs over your on-line activities -- a little document forgery might be just the ticket.
Some commenters mentioned that you can still get burner SIMs in Europe, but last time I checked it was incredibly hard anywhere in the world (maybe I don't know where to look) - even in China they want your official documents to sell you a prepaid card. The reason I always been told, that sounds plausible to me, is that easy access to burner phones leads to too much mess with criminals using them for their criminal things, and with random pranksters calling in fake bomb alerts.