Last time I was in China (late 2014) I had to provide a photocopy of my Australian passport to obtain a China Mobile SIM. Maybe it's changed since then, but I certainly can't imagine them being any more liberal than Australia, where you are required to submit a driver's licence number or a similar level of identity verification in order to activate a prepaid SIM.

That said, I can't imagine it being too hard to bribe someone to get a SIM not linked to an ID if you really wanted...

You can easily buy a mobile SIM on the street without showing ID. No bribing involved.

In India too, you need ID card to get sim card. And your sim card is activated after verification. In west you don't need to? How does Security agencies collect data? India is quite free albeit there's a recent surge of fascism.

India is practically free, but technically not. We're hilariously stumbling into becoming a security state.

Its funny, even though it is so tragic.

I remember that you didn't need Govt ID to get a phone line, to enter an airport, or to get on a plane (you just needed the ticket hard copy).

I definitely remember a time when you didn't need Govt ID when you checked into a hotel! Now you do, and hotels have to keep copies of them.

There's been so many, many assaults on privacy in India, and no one to oppose it because Indian's inherently are fond of the idea of a parent state.

If its hard to believe a random person on the internet - consider that the Government of India recently argued that there is no right to Privacy in the constitution.

And Aadhar. Man, if you want to see a better example of "Not my Problem" and doublspeak, then look no further than our Biometric program.

Its like watching Kafka author history.

Kenya too. You have to register your SIM card in order for it to be activated. Registration involves a form of ID (passport/birth certificate)

Half a year ago in Shenzhen I did manage to buy a prepaid SIM card from a street vendor without showing any kind of identification whatsoever. I've heard about that law, and I know my friends had to show their passports to get SIM cards, but apparently the law isn't obeyed that much. Mind you - it wasn't some shady vendor, it was a random electronics store on a commercial street.

They threaten to shutdown your SIM eventually if they don't have an ID#/passport associated with it. But they are very bad about follow through.

I see. Well, it only had to last a month :).

You'd have to go multiple years for there to be any risk of shutdown at all. I've never even received a threat.

Speak of the devil:

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/984988.shtml

It is like they come up every year and say: "we are really going to do this now."

The law, and how it is applied are 2 different things. Especially in an authoritarian state.

In the US, you don't need to give you passport/ID but a SSN is necessary if you want to finance it—which most people do. And that is the de-facto national identification number.

So while there are ways around it, most people are led to give that info up voluntarily.