Was forced to use WhatsApp a while ago and didn’t want to give Facebook my phone number.
Got a pretty cheap prepaid SIM, forced myself through the KYC, used it for close to a year without issues. Now they want me to top it up with at least 15€ to avoid cancelation. Surely there’s a cheaper way?
Edit: Looking to buy one in Germany
On what country do you live? That’s a big factor
Germany
there are some cheap services on kycnot.me
Thanks for this, looks like a great resource.
I think there are IoT sims that can only receive SMS.
My friend wanted to make something with them (I think smart thermostat) when the internet wasn’t everywhere.
Maybe try Airalo if your phone has eSIM support.
If their phone does not, they can get https://jmp.chat/esim-adapter
Look for ubigi, worldwide e-sim for fixed periods of time
Forced to use WhatsApp? How does that work? Whoever “forced” you to do so didn’t provide you a phone?
You can probably get a local eSIM with a phone number, e.g. https://www.telekom.de/unterwegs/esim but AFAICT that’s also KYC, unlike data-only eSIMs, so that might not help you much, depends on your threat model (e.g. does T-Mobile share data with Meta or not).
It’s the good old network effect. Telekom appears to be kind of expensive but getting an eSIM in general appears to be a valid (and likely cheaper) option.
