🇩🇪Germany eSIM: § 172 TKG's Seven-Document ID Check

12 plans for Germany, from 1 GB at $3.99 to 20 GB at $20.99, plus 6 unlimited-data tiers. 5 GB for 30 days costs $8.99 — 34th cheapest of 56 in Europe, against a $7.99 median. Our retail prices from the operator catalogue, checked 28 September 2026.

Does this apply to you? (the duty sits with whoever issues the German number)

eSIM Germany is Hallo! Mobil, a data-only Airalo profile that roams on the O2 and Eplus networks under a number Germany itself never issued, which keeps § 172 TKG’s seven-document identity check — built for local prepaid SIM buyers — from reaching it. Germany runs a real identity-logging duty for prepaid SIM cards.

German law places that duty on whoever activates a German number — not on the buyer of this eSIM. § 172 of the Telekommunikationsgesetz (TKG) has required this since the 2021 consolidation of German telecoms law. A German operator must collect a subscriber’s name, address and date of birth before the line switches on. It must then verify that data against one of seven listed documents before a prepaid line works.

This eSIM Germany profile does not trigger that duty. It comes from a foreign operator, roaming into Germany on O2 and Eplus under a number Germany never assigned. Nobody here “gets around” § 172. The paragraph names who owes the duty first: whoever hands out phone numbers or other connection identifiers, in the statute’s own words. That is a German operator issuing a German number, not a foreign one roaming a foreign number onto German networks.

That is one half of the picture. Walk into a Telekom, Vodafone or O2 shop for a local prepaid SIM, and the same § 172 meets you at the counter. You will be asked for a document. The law names seven that count, and the third one was written for people who are not German.

What German law collects before a line switches on

§ 172(1) TKG makes an operator collect seven kinds of data before a line switches on (“vor der Freischaltung”). This holds even where the operator has no use for that data itself.

“Wer nummerngebundene interpersonelle Telekommunikationsdienste, Internetzugangsdienste oder Dienste, die ganz oder überwiegend in der Übertragung von Signalen bestehen, erbringt und dabei Rufnummern oder andere Anschlusskennungen vergibt oder Telekommunikationsanschlüsse für von anderen vergebene Rufnummern oder andere Anschlusskennungen bereitstellt, hat für die Auskunftsverfahren nach den §§ 173 und 174 vor der Freischaltung folgende Daten zu erheben und unverzüglich zu speichern, auch, soweit diese Daten für betriebliche Zwecke nicht erforderlich sind: 1. die Rufnummern, 2. andere von ihm vergebene Anschlusskennungen, 3. den Namen und die Anschrift des Anschlussinhabers, 4. bei natürlichen Personen deren Geburtsdatum, 5. bei Festnetzanschlüssen die Anschrift des Anschlusses, 6. in Fällen, in denen neben einem Mobilfunkanschluss auch ein Mobilfunkendgerät überlassen wird, die Gerätenummer dieses Gerätes sowie 7. das Datum der Vergabe der Rufnummer und, soweit abweichend, das Datum des Vertragsbeginns.”

No official English translation of the TKG exists on that site (the page returns a 404); this translation is this project’s own. “Whoever provides number-based interpersonal telecommunications services, internet access services, or services consisting wholly or predominantly of signal transmission, and in doing so assigns phone numbers or other connection identifiers, or provides connections for numbers assigned by others, must, for the disclosure procedures under §§ 173 and 174, collect and immediately store the following data before the line is switched on, even where not required for its own operational purposes: 1. the phone numbers, 2. other connection identifiers it has assigned, 3. the name and address of the connection’s account holder, 4. for natural persons, their date of birth, 5. for fixed-line connections, the address of the connection, 6. in cases where a mobile handset is provided together with a mobile connection, the device number of that handset, and 7. the date the phone number was assigned and, if different, the date the contract began.” (§ 172(1), sentence 1, TKG)

Item 6 is worth reading twice. It bites only when the shop hands over a phone with the line, not on a SIM-only or eSIM sale. The device number is then stored next to the buyer’s name and birth date. That is a stored record, tied to one bundled-phone sale. It is not an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) registry, and the text sets up no way to block a handset. Nothing here works like Turkey's or Egypt’s IMEI-block regimes, where an unregistered handset itself stops working. § 172 writes a line in a file. It does not switch a phone off.

§ 172(1) also has the operator log when the number was handed out and when the contract ended, once that is known. Both feed the deletion clock two sections down.

Seven ways to prove who you are — and the one written for foreigners

§ 172(2) TKG lists seven documents a prepaid seller can use to check who you are. One of them names a foreign passport. This is the paragraph that answers whether you need a passport for a German SIM.

“Anbieter von im Voraus bezahlten Mobilfunkdiensten haben die Richtigkeit der nach Absatz 1 Satz 1 Nummer 3 und 4 erhobenen Daten, sofern die Daten in den vorgelegten Dokumenten oder eingesehenen Registern oder Verzeichnissen enthalten sind, vor der Freischaltung zu überprüfen durch 1. Vorlage eines Ausweises im Sinne des § 2 Absatz 1 des Personalausweisgesetzes, 2. Vorlage eines Passes im Sinne des § 1 Absatz 2 des Passgesetzes, 3. Vorlage eines sonstigen gültigen amtlichen Ausweises, der ein Lichtbild des Inhabers enthält und mit dem die Pass- und Ausweispflicht im Inland erfüllt wird, wozu insbesondere auch ein nach ausländerrechtlichen Bestimmungen anerkannter oder zugelassener Pass, Personalausweis oder Pass- oder Ausweisersatz zählt, 4. Vorlage eines Aufenthaltstitels, 5. Vorlage eines Ankunftsnachweises nach § 63a Absatz 1 des Asylgesetzes oder einer Bescheinigung über die Aufenthaltsgestattung nach § 63 Absatz 1 des Asylgesetzes, 6. Vorlage einer Bescheinigung über die Aussetzung der Abschiebung nach § 60a Absatz 4 des Aufenthaltsgesetzes oder 7. Vorlage eines Auszugs aus dem Handels- oder Genossenschaftsregister oder einem vergleichbaren amtlichen Register oder Verzeichnis, der Gründungsdokumente oder gleichwertiger beweiskräftiger Dokumente oder durch Einsichtnahme in diese Register oder Verzeichnisse und Abgleich mit den darin enthaltenen Daten, sofern es sich bei dem Anschlussinhaber um eine juristische Person oder Personengesellschaft handelt.”

Our translation: “Providers of prepaid mobile services must, before the line is switched on, verify the accuracy of the data collected under paragraph 1, sentence 1, numbers 3 and 4 — where that data appears in the documents submitted or in the registers or directories consulted — by: 1. presenting an identity card within the meaning of § 2(1) of the Personalausweisgesetz [Identity Card Act]; 2. presenting a passport within the meaning of § 1(2) of the Passgesetz [Passport Act]; 3. presenting another valid official document bearing the holder’s photograph that satisfies the domestic passport-and-ID obligation, which includes in particular a foreign passport recognized or admitted under the law governing foreign nationals, an identity card, or a substitute passport or identity document; 4. presenting a residence permit (Aufenthaltstitel); 5. presenting a certificate of arrival under § 63a(1) of the Asylgesetz [Asylum Act] or a certificate of permission to remain under § 63(1) of the Asylgesetz; 6. presenting a certificate suspending deportation under § 60a(4) of the Aufenthaltsgesetz [Residence Act]; or 7. presenting an extract from the commercial or cooperative register, or a comparable official register or directory, founding documents, or equally probative documents, or by consulting those registers and matching their data — where the account holder is a legal person or partnership.” (§ 172(2), sentence 1, TKG)

Item 3 is the one that reaches you as a foreign tourist. Its own wording, quoted above, covers a passport recognized or admitted under German law on foreign nationals. That clause settles the question a foreign buyer asks at the counter. Items 1 and 2 cover a German ID card and a German passport. Item 4 covers a residence permit. Items 5 and 6 cover asylum papers and a paper that suspends deportation, none of which a short-stay tourist holds. Item 7 covers a company buyer, through a business register instead.

Nothing in this list turns a foreign buyer away. It sets seven ways to check who you are. It does not set who may buy.

What the operator keeps about the check itself

§ 172(2) also makes an operator log the check itself, in one more sentence.

“Bei der Überprüfung ist die Art des eingesetzten Verfahrens zu speichern; bei Überprüfung mittels eines Dokumentes im Sinne des Satzes 1 Nummer 1 bis 6 sind ferner Angaben zu Art, Nummer und ausstellender Stelle zu speichern.”

Our translation: “The type of procedure used must be recorded when the check is carried out; where the check is carried out by means of a document within the meaning of sentence 1, numbers 1 to 6, the type, number and issuing authority of the document must also be recorded.” (§ 172(2), TKG)

Show a passport at the counter, and the shop logs its type, its number and the body that issued it — on top of your name and birth date.

§ 172(2) also allows a check by “andere geeignete Verfahren,” other suitable procedures. Which ones qualify is for the Bundesnetzagentur to set, and we have not read that list. Even so, one of the seven documents must still be used. A body that assesses conformity has to sign the method off, and the law caps how old that sign-off may be.

“Die Feststellung darf bei Nutzung des Verfahrens nicht älter als 24 Monate sein.”

Our translation: “That determination must be no older than 24 months at the time the procedure is used.” (§ 172(2), TKG)

§ 172(6) sets the retention clock.

“Die Daten nach den Absätzen 1 bis 3 sind mit Ablauf des auf die Beendigung des Vertragsverhältnisses folgenden Kalenderjahres zu löschen.”

Our translation: “The data under paragraphs 1 to 3 must be deleted upon expiry of the calendar year following the year in which the contractual relationship ended.” (§ 172(6), TKG)

Sign up in 2026, cancel in March 2027, and the record clears at the end of 2028 — not sooner, and not for ever. § 172(7) adds one more line.

“Eine Entschädigung für die Datenerhebung und -speicherung wird nicht gewährt.”

Our translation: “No compensation is granted for the collection and storage of the data.” (§ 172(7), TKG)

Buying a local German SIM: what you will actually be asked for

You will be asked for a document, and there is no version of this sale without one. § 172(2) attaches the full check to any local German prepaid SIM, bought at a Telekom, Vodafone or O2 counter. Your passport is what you hand over. Item 3 names it, and nothing in the law turns a tourist away for holding the wrong country’s passport.

The clerk then logs its type, its number and the body that issued it, exactly as § 172(2) demands.

This eSIM sits outside that sale. It does not “get around” § 172, and nothing here defeats the seven-document check. The law speaks to a German operator switching on a German number, and this profile is neither sold by one nor built on one. Buy the local SIM instead, and the check above meets you at the counter.

What you get: Hallo! Mobil on O2 and Eplus, 5G, data-only

This eSIM Germany profile is Hallo! Mobil: data-only, roaming on O2’s and Eplus’s 5G networks, with no ID step at checkout, sold in twelve plans from $3.99 to $43.99. KYC is not asked for at activation (Airalo catalog data, checked 16 August 2026). That sits outside § 172’s duty to register a buyer, and it is not a gap in German law.

The install window runs 365 days from purchase; the usage clock starts at first connection, not at purchase or install. The profile is rechargeable, with no stated expiry on the balance once loaded.

The 5 gigabytes (GB) / 30-day plan is the one most short trips land on.

The APN you have to type on Android

Android will not set this profile’s Access Point Name (APN) for you. The catalog gives three values, split by slashes: “globaldata/orange/orange.fr”. Reading that as three values to try, rather than one string to paste whole, is this page’s own reading. The catalog says nothing either way, and nothing presents it as an instruction from Hallo! Mobil.

If the profile installs but data will not connect on Android, open APN settings. Try one candidate at a time: “globaldata,” then “orange,” then “orange.fr,” with data roaming and mobile data on. iOS has not shown this problem. Android only.

Before you fly, and on landing

Install the profile before departure, on Wi-Fi, not at the airport. The QR (Quick Response) code or install link needs a working connection, and one on arrival is not guaranteed. The 365-day install window means buying weeks ahead costs nothing.

Nothing activates at install, so a profile that reads installed but inactive before boarding is normal. The clock starts at first connection to O2 or Eplus, once you land and turn on data roaming.

Run the Germany eSIM next to a home SIM on any dual-SIM phone, and set it as the data line. Turn off cellular data on the home SIM rather than the whole line, so nothing pulls a roaming charge by accident.

This profile is data-only and carries no phone number. Anything that verifies you by SMS to a German number sits outside what it can do: a bank’s one-time code, a delivery app, a shop loyalty sign-up. That follows from data-only, not from any identity rule above.

First eSIM install? It works here the same as anywhere. The iPhone guide and the Android guide cover the QR-scan and manual-entry paths. For Airalo’s own track record across destinations, see the Airalo review.

FAQ

Sources and freshness

Checked against § 172 TKG, 2021 consolidated text, from gesetze-im-internet.de. The file runs 6,439 characters and was read in full on 16 August 2026. Paragraphs 1, 2, 6 and 7 were read directly, including the sentence on logging the check and the 24-month rule in paragraph 2. No official English translation exists — that page returns a 404 — so every translation here is our own. Not read: the agency’s ruling on which “other suitable procedures” qualify. Also not read: §§ 173 and 174, which § 172 feeds, and any penalty clause elsewhere in the TKG.

The competitor pages collected for this site were searched before this eSIM Germany page was written, not assumed empty. Nine of them are about Germany itself, 47,630 words in all. Six name it in English: esimdb.com’s plan listing (17,913 words), two traveltomtom.net pages (7,481 and 2,061), two mobimatter.com pages (1,382 and 1,234) and one roafly.com page (1,739). Three more name it only in Turkish, as “Almanya”, so a word search in English or German misses them: monito.com’s Germany page (13,375 words) and two pocketesim.com guides (1,289 and 1,156). Not one of the nine names § 172, the TKG, or “Freischaltung”. Two mention a passport in general terms and stop there.

Two SERP captures target a Germany SIM query. “Almanya için eSIM” returned 99 results on 10 August 2026, 43 of them mentioning Germany, all price-comparison pages. A second returned 65 results, 60 mentioning Germany, and its People Also Ask block asks “Do I need a passport for SIM card registration”. Both sets say a passport is needed, in general terms. Neither quotes § 172, names all seven methods, or gives the retention period. Two more captures mention Germany once and not at all. No traveller forum thread collected for this site covers German law; the one that says “Deutschland” is about Turkey’s IMEI blocks.

Plans, prices, network and windows come from Airalo’s catalog data for Hallo! Mobil, checked 16 August 2026, and can change without notice. This page reads German law as it stood on 16 August 2026 — recheck it before you lean on it beyond ordinary travel use.

Sources cited only — expert review pending. For individualized advice, consult a licensed professional.