5 ms·

Except that changing your sim card doesn't anonymize you because your phone still has the same IMEA number and that's logged as well. That's just a joke you see

by hcfman 3y ago

Except that changing your sim card doesn't anonymize you because your phone still has the same IMEA number and that's logged as well. That's just a joke you see in movies.

Double_a_92 3y ago
Yeah you need to physically twist the phone and break it in two halves! /s
- Brajeshwar 3y ago
  And throw it in the nearest trashcan without looking at it.
cookiengineer 3y ago
This. Came here to comment this. Additionally, Apple has on-firmware-level trackers implemented. So the use case of avoiding governmental oversight is already defeated by deciding to use an Apple device. So reusing an old Apple device is pointless advice, because they're still linked as contacts in Gotham. And forget newer iPhones, which have GPS always active and already integrated their parts authorization network stack that sends all the identifiers of those parts to Apple's service. Forget Samsung, too, as the Mexican incident showed. Honestly the article is kind of bad advice all around when it comes to the phone.
- zirgs 3y ago
  > reusing an old Apple device is pointless advice, because they're still linked as contacts in Gotham What if I buy a used one with cash?
  - cookiengineer 3y ago
    You still don't control what's installed on the device, which is the core problem behind owning an Apple device. You effectively don't own it, you only own the license to use it which can be revoked any time, remotely, by Apple. Also can't change the IMEI as grandparent comment already mentioned, which means that the movement profile (aka your flat, your workplace, etc) is still there, everywhere, for governments to see. Can't really disable GSM/GPS module, because it is still active even when your phone is shut off.
    - zirgs 3y ago
      Interesting. It is possible to disable GPS on Android. But yeah - cell towers will still know roughly where you are.
- rightbyte 3y ago
  What Mexican incident?
  - cookiengineer 3y ago
    > What Mexican incident? [0] https://www.reddit.com/r/samsung/comments/16pgliq/samsung_blocking_importedinternational_phones_in/ https://www.reddit.com/r/samsung/comments/16pgliq/samsung_bl... [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln4rsxWq3WM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln4rsxWq3WM [2] https://www.silicon.co.uk/mobility/smartphones/mexico-orders-samsung-motorola-to-stop-remotely-disabling-phones-535595 https://www.silicon.co.uk/mobility/smartphones/mexico-orders... [3] https://linustechtips.com/topic/1537307-android-phones-disabled-remotly-in-mexico/ https://linustechtips.com/topic/1537307-android-phones-disab... They tried to stop "illegally imported devices" from working, but basically killed/bricked all devices that were sold privately as well as all international phones that were e.g. used by tourists or visa workers. But now the cat is out of the bag, Samsung having a remote administrative toolkit implemented on all of its Galaxy devices (at least). Samsung was not the only vendor that did this. Motorola, Oppo and ZTE did that, too.
    - rightbyte 3y ago
      Oh dear. And my bank somehow thinks that putting both the bank app and the verification code app on these rootkited malware devices is A-OK.
      - M95D 3y ago
        According to them, it's the pinnacle of security. Just to be clear: "security" means "against you"!
fsflover 3y ago
One way to actually achieve is to use AweSIM service from Purism.

by hcfman 3y ago

Except that changing your sim card doesn't anonymize you because your phone still has the same IMEA number and that's logged as well. That's just a joke you see in movies.

Double_a_92 3y ago

Yeah you need to physically twist the phone and break it in two halves! /s

Brajeshwar 3y ago
And throw it in the nearest trashcan without looking at it.

cookiengineer 3y ago

This. Came here to comment this. Additionally, Apple has on-firmware-level trackers implemented. So the use case of avoiding governmental oversight is already defeated by deciding to use an Apple device. So reusing an old Apple device is pointless advice, because they're still linked as contacts in Gotham. And forget newer iPhones, which have GPS always active and already integrated their parts authorization network stack that sends all the identifiers of those parts to Apple's service. Forget Samsung, too, as the Mexican incident showed. Honestly the article is kind of bad advice all around when it comes to the phone.

zirgs 3y ago
> reusing an old Apple device is pointless advice, because they're still linked as contacts in Gotham What if I buy a used one with cash?
- cookiengineer 3y ago
  You still don't control what's installed on the device, which is the core problem behind owning an Apple device. You effectively don't own it, you only own the license to use it which can be revoked any time, remotely, by Apple. Also can't change the IMEI as grandparent comment already mentioned, which means that the movement profile (aka your flat, your workplace, etc) is still there, everywhere, for governments to see. Can't really disable GSM/GPS module, because it is still active even when your phone is shut off.
  - zirgs 3y ago
    Interesting. It is possible to disable GPS on Android. But yeah - cell towers will still know roughly where you are.
rightbyte 3y ago
What Mexican incident?
- cookiengineer 3y ago
  > What Mexican incident? [0] https://www.reddit.com/r/samsung/comments/16pgliq/samsung_blocking_importedinternational_phones_in/ https://www.reddit.com/r/samsung/comments/16pgliq/samsung_bl... [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln4rsxWq3WM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln4rsxWq3WM [2] https://www.silicon.co.uk/mobility/smartphones/mexico-orders-samsung-motorola-to-stop-remotely-disabling-phones-535595 https://www.silicon.co.uk/mobility/smartphones/mexico-orders... [3] https://linustechtips.com/topic/1537307-android-phones-disabled-remotly-in-mexico/ https://linustechtips.com/topic/1537307-android-phones-disab... They tried to stop "illegally imported devices" from working, but basically killed/bricked all devices that were sold privately as well as all international phones that were e.g. used by tourists or visa workers. But now the cat is out of the bag, Samsung having a remote administrative toolkit implemented on all of its Galaxy devices (at least). Samsung was not the only vendor that did this. Motorola, Oppo and ZTE did that, too.
  - rightbyte 3y ago
    Oh dear. And my bank somehow thinks that putting both the bank app and the verification code app on these rootkited malware devices is A-OK.
    - M95D 3y ago
      According to them, it's the pinnacle of security. Just to be clear: "security" means "against you"!

fsflover 3y ago

One way to actually achieve is to use AweSIM service from Purism.