Lithuania to introduce pre-paid SIM registration from 2025 | Hacker News Reader

Lithuania to introduce pre-paid SIM registration from 2025

commsupdate.com

Many countries have mandatory SIM registration at the point of purchase. My favorite scheme is the UAE where if you are a business traveler they will give you a free SIM at customs tied to your passport, which then tracks your movements in the country.

This is a breakdown of registration requirements by country. If possible I'll try to get a SIM from a neighboring country that has roaming in advance, a T-Mobile SIM with worldwide roaming, or a GlocalMe device that allows you to purchase data roaming data by proxy. https://prepaid-data-sim-card.fandom.com/wiki/Registration_P...

Did you know that within living memory there was an entire network of anonymous telephones you could pay for with untraceable cash in five cent increments?

As I recall, these could be 'traced', but you have to keep them talking long enough for it to work.

The payphone itself could be traced, but not the identity of the person talking on it.

I think this is the case in many (most?) European countries already. Hungary has it worse: you have to confirm your data every year or the sim stops working.

My Italian sim card required an id card in the 00s. But I didn't have one at hand, so it was in the name of my girlfriend at the time, for something like 15 years.

How are eSIMs effected by this?

Before your eSIM can be activated, you have to perform KYC?

Usually the esims you're referring to are data only (have no number). The sim registration requirements throughout the world are only about sims that have numbers attached.

eSIMs are not data only, that is dependant on your plan. It is basically just a technology that allows the physical SIM card to run inside a VM on your phone.

All SIMs, even data only ones, have numbers. You might not know what it is, but it has one.

Time to buy SIM cards.

I suspect that will do little good. They can just as well (and likely will) force you to register at some point under the threat of disconnecting your service.

Pre-paid SIM registration was introduced in Poland 7 years ago and existing cards which weren't in use were deactivated. Already active ones had a grace period after which owners either had to register these or pick new SIM and provide required personal data anyway. So I guess similar thing will happen for Lithuania.

The registration was available via short codes since operators in some cases already had the necessary personal data, or or it could be done by physically filling forms at operator's store.

That's how wirtualnemedia.pl portal described the purpose of SIM registration in its FAQ:

> What is the purpose of prepaid card registration? Does it function in other countries of the European Union?

> The primary purpose of the regulation is to increase the effectiveness of the Polish anti-terrorist system, thereby increasing the security of all Polish citizens. The obligation to register SIM cards is aimed at limiting the possibility of communication and camouflage for criminals, including those involved in terrorist activities. Some European Union countries have regulations imposing restrictions on the ability to purchase prepaid cards at service points of telecommunications operators. Such solutions are adopted in Germany, the UK, Spain, Bulgaria and Hungary, among others. The obligation to collect data on subscribers using telecommunications services is found in German law, among others.

It seems that now only Estonia and Latvia still will have "free" pre-paid SIM cards

Given the EU is so happy to pass things like the GDPR, why haven't they banned countries from doing this kind of thing? Do they only care about privacy from entities other than European governments?

Cause there is no legitimate reason for a simcard to be anonymous. Or if there is, illegal usage is dwarfs it. Gdpr still protects you by allowing you to have the telco delete your data when you no longer use their services.

If we should ban anonymous SIMs since illegal use dwarfs legal use, should we ban Tor and BitTorrent too?

Don't know about tor but people don't order hits over bittorrent.

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