[simoncion]

Yeah. This USian has reliable access to the following without presenting ID

* Telephone service

* Internet service

* A rental apartment to live in and relevant utilities

* Food

* Clothing

* Entertainment

* Medical care

* A bank account

It has been so long that I can no longer clearly remember, but I think that I didn't have to present ID to get my job and get paid.

Maybe things are way worse over in Euroland? Or maybe US-based authoritarians have successfully used the threat of imaginary "Stranger Danger" to turn the screws tighter for access to some of those things over the past ten, twenty years? I know it's not medical care, internet access, food, clothing, or entertainment because I've changed providers for those fairly recently.

[medvidek]

In most of the EU, IDs are issued for free to everyone above age 14/15 (and in many countries you can get one even for a newborn for a small fee). Since everyone has this ID, all banks (nearly?, I haven't seen one that doesn't) require ID card and/or a passport to open an account. For medical care you have a separate card with your compulsory medical insurance information that you present to the doctor but in the worst case they can just look up the info using your ID/passport.

[trollbridge]

You can't open a bank account without KYC.

Also requires showing adequate ID to have a job for the I-9.

[jen20]

How did you rent an apartment without ID? Every time I’ve done that they wanted an SSN, a credit check, and the pledge that your first born would be named after whatever dipshit was in the office that day.

You absolutely cannot get a bank account without an ID either: KYC is a thing.

Finally, you must complete an I9 form for any new job, which requires (wait for it) an ID.

[simoncion]

> You absolutely cannot get a bank account without an ID either.

And yet, I have multiple accounts. Go figure.

> How did you rent an apartment without ID?

I dunno. The paperwork was done like a bit more than fifteen years ago. But I've only been asked for my ID for apartment-related things once and that was to tour a place in a shitty, shitty apartment complex more than... twenty years ago.

> ...you must complete an I9 form for any new job, which requires (wait for it) an ID.

I'm pretty sure that all I've ever been asked for is name and SSN. Again, maybe this stuff is new as of the past ten, twenty years. Strong, strong anti-immigrant sentiment has a way of gripping people's hearts and making them do stupid shit.

[trollbridge]

The I-9 requires more than that. If all you show is your SSN you have to produce another document like a driver licence.

That doesn't mean your past employers were in full compliance, nor that they will ever get caught.

[jen20]

If all of your experience of these things dates back ten to twenty years, I’d encourage you to look at the actual current requirements now, which are what matters to people trying to do things now.

[simoncion]

> If all of your experience of these things dates back ten to twenty years...

No, it doesn't. The only experience I have that's that old is apartment renting and job acquisition.

And I guarantee you that

1) I can still get a job without ever presenting a photo ID. (Look closely at the I-9 acceptable documents lists B and C.)

2) I can get a reasonable apartment without presenting ID or submitting to a background check by committing to paying the first year's and every subsequent year's rent in advance.

[rkomorn]

I'm pretty sure I've had to show ID going to the doctor's office as well.

[iamnothere]

Maybe rent from individuals instead of corporate landlords. There’s no law against it.