Recent searches
Search options
The 
Polish government has suggested new EU rules to ban the #anonymous purchase of #prepaid #SIMcards.
“The main threat associated with prepaid SIM cards is #anonymity,” says a document obtained by @statewatch and one cannot make one's disdain for #humanrights any clearer.
Extensive research has found no evidence that bans on anonymous purchases of SIM cards contribute to reducing #crime.
If we take into account this, the indiscriminate data retention for the period of 12 months (that's the law in Poland), and uncontrolled access to telecom data by secret services (also law), we have a huge problem. We would prefer the Polish govt to follow the good example of EU countries respecting their citizens' rights, not the other way round...
[1] https://en.panoptykon.org/9-controversies-about-obligatory-prepaid-registration
[2] https://en.panoptykon.org/ECHR-surveillance-judgment-Poland-2024
[3] https://panoptykon.org/teczka-na-kazdego-wniosek-retencja
@panoptykon @statewatch Yes so true, this is pretty bad.
And now combine it with the terrible plans the new 
German government is just formulating that also indiscriminate include #dataretention, #biometric mass #surveillance, legalised state hacking, etc.
I think we're in for a couple of years of fighting unconstitutional laws in the courts -- again. 
@ilumium I think in Germany it's not possible to buy an anonymous SIM card. I don't remember when that was. @statewatch
@ilumium @statewatch yeah, also coming in because my thought is that in Spain you've never been able to buy a SIM card anonymously. But I might be wrong.
(The thing that kills me about this is that fucking phone spam is out of control, and, well aren't we able to track all spammers and stop them? If we cannot do that, why I cannot have an anonymous SIM card? Why is it so hard to get a Google account that cannot be traced?)
@ilumium @statewatch I use a lot of throwaway SIM cards for testing. I'm a rural Internet last mile operator and test lot of devices and sometimes I need SIM cards for customer emergencies. It really sucks being unable to just buy one and go. The registration device in our village store is sometimes offline and I have to drive far to get one. If I was a criminal I'd have no problem getting cards registered by asking any of the drunks sitting near stores.
@ilumium I thought it was already illegal / impossible in Poland for like a decade now? @statewatch
@temporal @statewatch not in EU law though
@ilumium @statewatch Huh, I thought buying a pre-paid sim card required handling your ID for all of the EU, but I guess it is not the same for all members. Spain ended this after burner phones were used in the 2004 jihadist train bombings.
I usually don't like governments eavesdropping and tracking me, but we have enough problems with the neo-soviet invaders to make me reconsider my stance while there's a risk to the union's security.