Hi @y2user1,

welcome to our English community.

Thanks for contacting us here.

Be assured that a copy of your passport is needed in order to activate a prepaid-card here in Germany. This is according to the regulations. Here in Germany we need the identity of the person.

Please find here all the details how a sim-card is activated: activation of a prepaid-card

I hope I could help you with this information.

Loving greetings,

Tobias

Does it also includes the copy of German resident permit card.

In my case, The seller took the photo of my German Resident permit card with a handheld mobile phone.!

Is this also a normal norms for sim card activation.?

Providers are required by law to record the information on the customer's ID card, passport or residence permit (name, date of birth, document number and expiry date) and are permitted to copy or scan the documents securely to speed up this process. This should not be done with a mobile phone though. Was it really a phone?

Indeed It was an Iphone ! .

I felt it, a bit abnormal.

This is the reason why I brought this topic to the online forums still I am skeptical.

Any suggestions or insights at this moment?

Hi @y2user1 ,

our co-workers in the shops are working with smartphones and tablets.

Using a smartphone for this process is not uncommon, at fist glance (I asked around a bit, since I haven´t ordered a prepaid card in a shop).

I understand that this leaves place for doubt, since we can´t differentiate the work phones from the private ones from here.

Maybe @TBCMagic has a bit more experience with which he could help us?

Viele Grüße,

Kurt

Where no document scanner is used, a photo of the ID card is taken and the authentication is carried out,

Can you still remember the process?
First, your data (name, date of birth, address, etc.) was entered into the computer. Then the shop employee took a photo of the monitor (QR code) and then photographed your ID (maybe even several times because the image was either not clear or the security features of the ID were not clearly visible ) and finally he has his personal code entered for confirmation.

For me, this process has been carried out so often that you could probably wallpaper a room with the pictures:

A completely normal process.

Thanks for the information about the prepaid sim card activation process and clarification.

Indeed very useful insight.

The process is normal, it should not be being done with a mobile phone though. If in doubt, if the shop doesn't have a certified document reader, I would suggest using PostIdent in a post office branch. There the details from the ID are read by the scanner and transferred directly to the software. No photos, no third party hardware.

Hi @y2user1,

thanks for contacting us here in our English community.

Were the suggestions and information given by @bs0 and @TBCMagic helpful for you?

If you have any further questions, please come back here in our English community.

Loving greetings,

Tobias