In South Africa, where I live, everyone is assigned an ID Number at Birth. You need an ID number, thumbprint scan AND proof of address to get issued a SIM card number due to a law introduced called RICA. It was meant to help fight crime. Worried that the government could listen in to calls or read their SMSs, the criminals just switched to WhatsApp, which also happened to become cheaper than SMSs and gained popularity in this time.

The cops never seemed to crack WhatsApp. The only drug busts that happen are when an open secret becomes laughably too open and when they harass every person arriving from South America at O.R. Tambo international airport just to catch the decoy mules carrying 12g of cocaine (total). Every dealer I ever organised with was over WhatsApp.

So now, woopsi, RICA stopped nothing and just became a liability. That treasure trove of fragile data made its way to scammers and spammers. A total net negative.

I’d encourage everyone else in other countries to apply major pushback to any government proposals in this direction.

are you under 16

no

ok cool here’s a youtube short when an AI voice tells you an AI-written story over vaguely related stock footage

The planet is fucking melting and elected leaders are writing laws on herding cats

I’ve been using the internet for longer than I’ve been an adult.

I still sometimes add +10 years to date of birth fields out of habit.

Might as well have issued a mandate to nom a spoonful of sand daily.