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Germany to ban anonymous SIM cards[German]

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Re: Germany to ban anonymous SIM cards[German]

#41

Post by cheshire_cat »

cm2187 wrote: post #24
05 wrote: post #14

Thankfully because there's no roaming in the EU, there's absolutely no other way to get an unregistered SIM card to work in Germany..

If even if there was roaming, there isn't any internet to order foreign SIM cards online.

There are already methods in place to get an anonymous SIM card even if this law gets passed. There is a SIM exchange service run by privacy activists. [0]

There are also people that register hundreds of cards on their own name and resell them.

This is just another invasion of privacy and not even worth it imho.

[0] http://www.daten-speicherung.de/index.php/kartentausch/

Re: Germany to ban anonymous SIM cards[German]

#42

Post by sasvari »

Loic wrote: post #26
creshal wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think these checks are probably already pretty common in other parts of the world. Germany is a bit touchy when it comes to measures like this. After the experiences of the Nazi regime, even things like a census or introduction of a TIN met massive, years long resistance. One election gone wrong is all it takes and all those data will be used for genocide. Again.

FYI: the TIN is a unique number associated to each person living in Germany. New born babies are getting a TIN faster than most of the congratulation cards... It is issued by the tax authorities and as a foreigner living in Germany you also get one.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_identity_number_(Swed...

Re: Germany to ban anonymous SIM cards[German]

#43

Post by pmontra »

the_mitsuhiko wrote: post #31
jkot wrote: post #22

Anon SIMs are already banned in many EU countries. It does not really work, some homeless people have thousands SIMs registered on their name. Also opposition in Germany says this might be discriminatory to refugees, since some of them have no documents.

In which ones? I have manu prepaid sims from all over Europe and the only one with a name on is an old italian one when they required it. Which i think they no longer do.

Italy still requires to link a SIM to a person. I don't remember if I had to show my id or my fiscal code last time I got a new SIM. No more than a 30 seconds procedure. They note it down and that's it. It's been like that for so long that I forgot when and why they introduced this legislation.

Re: Germany to ban anonymous SIM cards[German]

#44

Post by madiathomas »

phillc73 wrote: post #11
DominikPeters wrote: post #10

Main points of the article: For purposes of terrorism prevention, the current German government wants to require sellers of SIM cards to check photo ID and ask for current address. If this happens, it will be (theoretically) impossible to own a German phone number that isn't connected to a name. The address data is supposed to be put into a searchable database allowing security officials to search for names even if t…

I think these checks are probably already pretty common in other parts of the world. For at least the last three or four years in Australia there is a requirement to present Photo ID before buying a SIM card. I was quite surprised by this when I tried to buy a SIM at Sydney airport a few years ago. I have no idea what the government is doing with the data nor how it is protected. At the time, I just wanted a local SI…

In South Africa, we had this kind of checks since 2003. Not only are you supposed to present an ID book, you are also required to bring a verifiable proof of residence.

While visiting Mozambique a month back, I used a passport to buy a SIM card. Seems like Germany is just catching up with the rest of the world.

Re: Germany to ban anonymous SIM cards[German]

#45

Post by lukasm »

cm2187 wrote: post #24
05 wrote: post #14

Thankfully because there's no roaming in the EU, there's absolutely no other way to get an unregistered SIM card to work in Germany..

If even if there was roaming, there isn't any internet to order foreign SIM cards online.

Get a car in Berlin, drive for 1h to the first gas station in Poland. This is yet another stupid law. No problem for bad guys, just hurting legitimate businesses.

And obviously no identity theft will happen, since no one ever hacked any provider and you cannot ask a homeless guy to buy you a dozen.

Re: Germany to ban anonymous SIM cards[German]

#46

Post by Normal_gaussian »

adrianN wrote: post #25
cm2187 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it is sort of pointless. You have free wifis pretty much everywhere now. You don't really need a SIM card to communicate - even by voice - with other people. What will happen then? Starbuck will need to ask for your ID when you connect to their wifi? Russia is doing pretty much that with internet cafes. These control freaks need to get over the idea that they will achieve electronically a level of government…

Free Wifis are a lot more scarce in Germany though.

https://freifunk.net/en/

The largest such network that I know of anywhere.

Re: Germany to ban anonymous SIM cards[German]

#47

Post by trappedfly »

the_mitsuhiko wrote: post #31
jkot wrote: post #22

Anon SIMs are already banned in many EU countries. It does not really work, some homeless people have thousands SIMs registered on their name. Also opposition in Germany says this might be discriminatory to refugees, since some of them have no documents.

In which ones? I have manu prepaid sims from all over Europe and the only one with a name on is an old italian one when they required it. Which i think they no longer do.

It is still required to have your name tied to SIMs in Italy. You are asked to show an ID (or driver's license) and your fiscal code[1].

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_fiscal_code_card

Re: Germany to ban anonymous SIM cards[German]

#48

Post by CrystalGamma »

cm2187 wrote: post #34
adrianN wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Free Wifis are a lot more scarce in Germany though.

I don't know about Germany, but a friend of mine visited London without roaming, and I was surprised that he achieved pretty much constant connectivity. There is almost not a single restaurant, coffee shop, airport or train without free wifi.

That's completely different in Germany, because here everyone with an internet access is legally liable for any misconduct done using their connection. There are movements to change this, but Germany still is the country with the lowest free-wifi coverage worldwide (I assume).

Re: Germany to ban anonymous SIM cards[German]

#49

Post by icebraining »

azazqadir wrote: post #29
tomp wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would this solve terrorism?

I never said it will solve terrorism. I said it's a good thing that government is trying at least.

Shouldn't the government be trying things that are expected to work? Otherwise this is just another example of the Politician's Fallacy.

Re: Germany to ban anonymous SIM cards[German]

#50

Post by nicelynicely »

azazqadir wrote: post #29
tomp wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would this solve terrorism?

I never said it will solve terrorism. I said it's a good thing that government is trying at least.

How is gathering more data on citizens a good thing?

Do you want to live in a police state? How will this benefit European people?

This rubbish is what leads to civil wars. You (and people like you) think you should know everything about everyone. People fought and died to protect Europeans from that.

You want to go back to fighting for basic rights that were hard won with peoples blood.

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