There’s so much stolen data in the world, South Korea will require face scans to buy a SIM

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South Korea's government on Friday announced it will require local mobile carriers to verify the identity of new customers with facial recognition scans, in the hope of reducing scams.

https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/22/south_korea_facial_verification/?td=rt-3a

I don't know if anyone who reads this plans to go to S. Korea, but this could spread to the West including the U.S.   It certainly raises privacy issues and discourages people from switching carriers as it does not appear to apply to all mobile users at this time, only those new customers for a carrier.