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Could you elaborate? I lived in Germany for a while and I never had to send a picture to a government agency and have a video call with them to access the internet. Phone, laptop, and desktop.

Never heard anything like that from many people I know in Germany.

I feel like there is a huge chunk of context missing here.

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Sure. The difference is probably that you had a contract assigned to your home address, so they had your identity and your banking coordinates already, no need to ask.

I'm referring to sim cards bought in a supermarket. Prepaid, no contract. The activation process, regardless of the brand (I've tried many!) involves those video calls.

Oh that sucks deeply. In Spain they have something like that too. But in Holland you can still buy one in the supermarket without registering anything (though you'll have to top up by cash every single time if you really don't want to be traced).

I think Ireland still doesn't require registration either.

That’s insane! Dystopian!

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