Comment by nonrandomstring | Hacker News Reader

Comment by nonrandomstring | Hacker News Reader

nonrandomstring

> Governments across the globe that introduced biometrics in SIM cards > as part of the on-boarding process, to clamp down on fraud, include > China, Afghanistan, Mexico, Pakistan, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan > and Venezuela.

This list of countries should tell you everything you need to know about the spread of techno-authoritarianism. I've spoken to Nigerians who say they've had enough and want out due to overbearing and corrupt government there. They tell me that corruption is both perpetrated by the government and then used as an excuse to clamp down on personal liberties and freedom of business that ultimately benefits corrupt government officers. It's a vicious downward spiral fuelled by digital technology.

We need much more stuff like Declaration for the Future of the Internet [1]. Though I don't see how that can directly help people in these kind of regimes when we allow our own companies like Bluecoat [2] to export oppressive technologies.

[1] https://www.internetgovernance.org/2022/04/29/the-declaratio...

[2] https://slate.com/technology/2013/01/blue-coat-citizen-lab-r...

> It's a vicious downward spiral fuelled by digital technology.

Aided more than fuelled ( fuel implies that if it's cut the fire will stop). The history of corruption and opression show no technology is required for that, but it certainly helps.

>This list of countries should tell you everything you need to know

Not sure that part is all that meaningful. e.g. Pretty sure the UK and EU can already link my biometrics and SIM

It doesn't feel great but it doesn't feel awful. In Australia (admittedly a place that people already label as authoritarian) you need to provide DL or passport to activate a SIM, and those are already linked to biometrics so this doesn't feel like too much of a reach.

But I guess some hellish future exists where telcos start selling/capitalising biometric info, so yeah...

In what way? In the UK you can go to your local tesco or other big shop and grab a prepaid SIM card very easily. In fact, my university’s CS Dept used to have a bowl full of £5 prepaid SIM cards that sat in a bowl near the entrance.

Then I would be more worried about which radical extremist would use it to plot the next terror attack. With some proof of ownership of the sim one would atleast have a human trace. Sure terrorists these days use satellite phones but giving away sims on a bowl without any proof of ownership is just lowering the entry barrier.

You can pay homeless or poor people to buy anything you want. Was pretty common when I worked at att. Granted that was for fraud with leased phones but if they just wanted a sim card with no connection to them it would work fine.

Hard to look forward to a VR/metaverse future with these trends continuing.

Why, wouldn't you want to spend your entire life in a virtual world completely controlled by a single mega corporation? /s

could we re-phrase this with some stark language? of course "metaverse" participation can be cut at any time from behind closed doors, and of course individual finances are linked to these virtual worlds.

It's just going to be Second Life with a ton of corporate chat bots. Nobody is going to be interested in their shit.

Biometrics also seems excessive for a SIM, but it could also be that these countries don't have reliable methods of identifying people. Denmark also require your identity to be tied to your SIM, but is using your national ID, rather than biometrics.

As for the countries in your list, yes, reducing fraud is most likely just an excuse.

How does Denmark require this? You can buy a SIM for cash from a kiosk, or a vending machine in the airport.

True, but you’ll need to activate it. That is done online, using your NemID. You cannot buy, or steal, a bunch of SIM and simply use the right away. They won’t work unless activated.

I haven’t tried in recent years, but those SIMs I bought for testing 8 or 10 years ago, in cash, from shady kiosks, all needed to be activated.

I don't think that's the case. You should be able to take a Lebera or Lycamobile SIM and use it immediately, buying additional credit on vouchers from kiosks.

It's years since I did this, but it's the way for visitors and immigrants to get a Danish phone number before they even have a CPR number.

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