No longer doable, at least in Europe, you can't buy per-paid phone card without showing you government ID. And I believe you will not be able to create Twitter (that is, X) or Facebook account without being forced to provide something more than email. I've tried, and account was immediately lock until I provide more credentials (gov id or phone number).

All of this is to fight child porn, as always, although, unlike normal people, those who earn on child porn can make that additional effort to find some homeless person, drug addict, etc. and get sim card activated.

So we are where we are with lack of privacy for regular people. Maybe one day governments will realize that not only them have access to all of this information, foreign intelligence too, which make much easier to recruit/blackmail spies and in the end, shattered privacy costs much more than imaginary child porn fight.

Why do you think this is the case across all of Europe? You can definitely buy SIM cards in vending machines in Denmark still.

There seems to be a trend on HN to assume every country in Europe has the same laws. Confusingly, most of these comments come from people living in European countries.

When discussing legal matters related to European countries, it's crucial to be specific about the country or countries involved and to avoid making generalized statements that may not https://www.myjdfaccount.net/ apply universally. Relying on accurate and up-to-date information from reputable sources is essential to avoid spreading misconceptions and to foster a more accurate understanding of the legal environment in Europe.

Thanks chatgpt

Can you actually use them without activation? Last time I tried getting one I was required to activate it using NemID/MitID before it would actually work.

If they do work without activation could you please enlighten me on who's selling these, it not one of the major phone companies, nor is it Lebara. Lycamobile maybe?

> No longer doable, at least in Europe, you can't buy per-paid phone card without showing you government ID

I'm in Europe and I can go to any supermarket and buy a cartload (depending on stock) of pre-paid cards without having to show any ID to anyone. They also work in any EU country.

in which country?

I think at least Czechia, Croatia, Denmark, Lithuania & Latvia don't require registration.

Registration happens nowadays when activating the cards, not when buying them. But it depends on the country, and sometimes even the provider.

There are many networks in many European countries that do not require any form of activation to use their SIMs.

True, but not enough:

> The court's ruling mandates Meta to disclose key identifying information, including the username, email address, telephone number, and the IP address used during registration and logins.