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Comment by collegeburner | Hacker News Reader

i assume for people buying prepaid roaming sims or whatever there's no personal data? or is this not the case?

ACMA [1] state you just need name, DOB, and address for prepaid service.

Post-paid generally is a lot stricter e.g. most telcos want 100 points of ID with at least one primary document such as driver's license or passport [2]. Not sure if that's a legislative requirement though, or just good business practice.

[1] https://www.acma.gov.au/acmas-rules-id-checks-prepaid-mobile...

[2] https://www.telstra.com.au/support/account-payment/id-check-...

Post-paid involves a credit-check. That's what they're using the ID for.

They won't let you open a post-paid account if you've got a history of non-payment.

I understand that, I had been under the impression there was also legislation requiring telcos to verify customer identity (so you couldn't have an anonymous phone plan, or easily have one under a false identity). But I can't seem to find it, or it may not have been real to begin with.

In the 10k leak, there were 151 overseas passports included.

So about 1-2%.

All sims need personal data - otherwise overseas could be a loophole to get a ghost sim.

*>ghost sim

Do all countries require a ton of personal info to get a sim?

Why do we accept it as a given that the government must know who owns a phone? Is this necessary?

"ghost sim" damn they really sold y'all that koolaid huh? in America anyone can go buy an el cheapo prepaid sim at a gas station with no ID, in cash, and it's not a "ghost sim" it's just a prepaid phone (or a burner if you're fearmongering). i hate terms like this that beg the question that the default state is the government knowing who you are and anything else is a "ghost" sim/gun/whatever and is "dangerous".

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