3 ms·
If someone knows your IMEI can they track you?
by KenArrari 2y ago
If someone knows your IMEI can they track you?
- kbolino 2y agoNot from the other side of a wide-area network, but if they are continuously in close proximity to you, or can effectively monitor everywhere (three letter agency), then yes. Of course, there are other ways to track you.
- KenArrari 2y agoAh ok I had a police officer force me to unlock my phone and show him my IMEI once so that answers why.
- harshaxnim 2y agoCan you elaborate on what you meant by trackable when they're "continously in close proximity to you"?
- p_l 2y agoSnooping, or hijacking, the radio pathway between you and your network operator.
- aspenmayer 2y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMSI-catcher https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMSI-catcher
- wiml 2y agoIf they can listen to the radio traffic between your phone and the cell tower, that is.
- lxgr 2y agoI think this is only true for older mobile networks. In 4G and 5G, I don't think the IMEI is part of any unencrypted radio message anymore. Even the IMSI is only used when absolutely necessary, i.e. for the initial attachment procedure when cold starting a device or entering a new routing area; after that, it's replaced by an alias called TMSI to make tracking phone users a bit harder. New Android versions will supposedly have a switch in their settings to show a warning every time the IMEI or IMSI is transmitted in plantext [1]. [1] https://cs.android.com/android/platform/superproject/main/+/main:hardware/interfaces/radio/aidl/android/hardware/radio/network/IRadioNetwork.aidl;l=666?q=cellularidentifierdisclosed%20imsi https://cs.android.com/android/platform/superproject/main/+/...