It can go several ways, but they're going to ID the buyer one way or another.
We bought a cheap Trac phone for $20, but to connect the service to the phone we had to provide a SSN. We bought another cheap phone and they required a SSN for the purchase.
Japan is the same way, you have to present ID to the phone shop to even get a prepaid. You have to be a permanent resident in the country. Apparently to prevent "terrorism".
It can go several ways, but they're going to ID the buyer one way or another.
We bought a cheap Trac phone for $20, but to connect the service to the phone we had to provide a SSN. We bought another cheap phone and they required a SSN for the purchase.
Japan is the same way, you have to present ID to the phone shop to even get a prepaid. You have to be a permanent resident in the country. Apparently to prevent "terrorism".
In the Netherlands you can still go to a shop and buy a prepaid SIM card with cash. You can put money on it with vouchers you can also buy with cash.
When I was in the UK a couple of years ago it was the same there (I did it), but that was a few years ago so it could've changed of course.
I've still got the UK SIM, it gives me a much better internet connection even in the Netherlands for some reason.