Can't you pay cash for things like Visa gift cards and use them online?

At least in the US most places that sell gift cards require ID when purchased in cash

Gift cards don't allow reloading which consequently makes them a significant inconvenience to use for subscriptions. It's sort of like saying you can pay for something by going to their offices and paying in cash. Okay, but then why does the way that 99.9% of people are actually going to do it have to be the one that invades their privacy and puts everything they do in a database?

depends on local laws?