The Anonymous SIM Challenge
No, I'm not getting a mobile phone. No, nobody in the household is getting a mobile phone. Americans call it "cellular" or "cellphone" and many just dub it "smartphone" - not exactly a meaningful classification. It's overhyped and it's a source of distraction, set aside the damage to civil liberties.
The thing is, later this week we want to examine which shops in town still allow people to place calls anonymously or acquire a SIM card without identifying themselves.
The classic (iconic) phone booths in the streets are fast vanishing and more than 12 years ago when I checked policies for top-ups, prepaid etc. it was still possible with cash. I checked at Carphone Warehouse, Orange, Vodafone, Phone4U, and Virgin by walking into the stores. Someone told me back then (March 2012): "In Spain you have to identify yourself with National ID card or passport before you can buy a phone or a SIM card. Of course there’s a black market for anonymous or faked SIM cards."
It has been so long since then that this week I plan to do another (newer) survey and assess the "liberty" in the anonymity sense, knowing that in practice it has little to do with actual security because, as noted above, criminals always have a "black market" regardless.
There's a good reason activists encourage other activists not to use a mobile phone. It's not because they conspire to commit crimes; typically they work to actually tackle crime. █