Comment by 0rzech
4 months ago
Yup, in Poland, a mobile phone number (pre-paid or not, it doesn't matter) is tied to a PESEL number [1] at the time of purchase. The official justification, as usual, was combating crime, but the end result is a tighter grip on citizens' privacy by the government while spammers and others continue their business as usual.
Same or similar in Germany. Almost impossible to get a SIM card without showing up somewhere with your id. Or I don't know how to.
Just step into a random supermarket in a neighbouring countr and buy a SIM in cash at the register.
It's crazy how heterogeneous rules are inside the EU.