For the hell of it, I did a few trades in which the dollar payment was meant to be completed by Western Union and by Moneygram.

Both these companies insisted on getting a mobile phone number from me.

Now, I do not use mobile phones, Edward Snowden on mobile phones, because everybody else uses and even trusts them. Lots of people are not aware of the fact that it is very, very easy to hack into your phone and subvert it. The hacking can be automated on a large scale. I would not be surprised that they pre-emptively hack and infect with malware the phones of millions of people.

Why? Because they can.

Theory of deception insists that it is the aggregate belief itself in the deceptive statement -- the mobile phones can be trusted -- that fuels the growth in the deception. Therefore, what Snowden said about mobile phones is trivially true. It is also clear that trusted deceptions are only dangerous to people who really believe in them. As soon as you stop believing them, they become un-dangerous. That is most likely also why the three-letter agencies are so angry with Snowden.

I wonder how deceptive the Western Union and Moneygram requests really were? What do they do with the information? Who exactly do they give it to? They did not clarify this issue. Of course, everybody can buy an unused 1-dollar SIM card in the nearest-by phone shop and tell them that that is their phone number. I think I will use that as a 1-dollar security measure, if I use their services again, instead of telling them that I do not use mobile phones (they were quite upset about that).

Do you know of other, similar situations in which they insist on getting your mobile phone number?

They must be devastated to lose your business. Phone numbers have become easily accessed personal ID. Business can actually send text messages all over the world to confirm who people are. I know, it's amazing.
They will be putting a man on the moon next. I do hope that you don't share your passport number with dangerous state organisations like Immigration Departments when you travel, what do they do with that information?

Yeah, because buying a burner SIM in Cambodia is real hard. I've bought 3 SIM cards there without ever showing ID or being registered... and if you're worried about malware buy a $10 Nokia with no Internet access...

There is such a thing as too much paranoia and this post dives into its deepest chasms.