It is no longer possible to book train tickets in Germany without providing your verified email or phone number. FYI, all phone numbers are linked to national ID cards in Germany.
https://www.thelocal.de/20230925/everything-that-changes-in-october-2023-in-germany
For a country that lived through the Stazi secret police, this seems like a weird move
Forget Staatssicherheit, now comes ad protection
I hope no one is the Volk though. I hate Baseballschläger.