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Comment by naturalmovement | Hacker News Reader

> like most other places

Much of EU requires ID for some time now. France is a bit strange, requires registration after 23 days or something. Germany, Italy, Spain it's basically impossible.

The US is rather unique in that it does not require registration.

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Argentina doesn't also, you can just buy a SIM card off the newsstand.

In my experience, you then need to activate it using real data from real people. I lent my data to a colombian colleague a couple of years ago, as he did not have a DNI yet.

Huh? At least in Germany, Spain and France all of the smaller shops fill in fake info without even asking.

EU countries have had these requirements for years and years and never moved to actually enforce them.

I wasn't taking blatant fraud into account. I'm sure that's possible everywhere. I'd bet you can buy cigarettes without the tax stamps in the same shop too.

Last I traveled the shop required a passport or uploading one to get an eSIM ahead of time.

Sure, but if you’re a tourist in e.g. Barcelona trying to get a prepaid SIM, odds are the shopkeeper will not ask you for your ID despite being required to.

> Last I traveled the shop required a passport or uploading one to get an eSIM ahead of time.

Sounds like you went to a carrier boutique and not one of the million independent shops.

Not a good example. In Spain they notoriously demand id/passport and make photo or copy of it, they do it "for the police".

That’s the legal requirement yes, I’ve never seen a shop insist on it. Most of them have autofill scripts for the KYC forms.

Isn't the main topic of discussion here a legal requirement?

If everyone ignores it then what's the fuss about?

I’m just pointing out that in Europe the equivalent legal requirement is widely ignored, the same won’t necessarily repeat in the US, but it might.

I would think most tourists would trust a carrier-branded store over Honest Jochen's Tobacco Emporium where you may or may not get a working SIM after paying cash.

Trust? Sure. They’re still more likely to buy their prepaid SIM from the shop that also sells bongs, they are on every corner after all.

Is it that trivial in Germany? I live in Berlin, and the rumor that I heard years ago is that some kiosks in areas known for drug dealing sell pre-activated SIM cards. I never bothered to check.

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