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The £60 burner sounds like a leader on the device security front. No way it could possibly be running an ancient version of android that is no longer getting se

The £60 burner sounds like a leader on the device security front. No way it could possibly be running an ancient version of android that is no longer getting security patches, or is hacked up to shit by the device manufacture to reskin it and install their vulnerable suite of bloatware, or built off of a base os and firmware flocked to by folks for its ease of being able to gain root access/root it and run whatever you want at the kernel level.

kshacker 2y ago
It could be doing all that actually but you are not obliged to install all your apps on the burner, just the basic minimum.
- wutwutwat 2y ago
  You're still walking around with a microphone and gps tracker connected to a cellular network even if the only thing you do is power it on
  - brewdad 2y ago
    If that's your threat model, don't carry ANY phone. Probably best not to carry any modern electronic device at all.
    - wutwutwat 2y ago
      Real criminals who don't want to be caught don't carry phones for this exact reason.
      - colimbarna 2y ago
        Sometimes the alternative blows up in your face though.
        kshacker 2y ago
        Too soon
  - maccard 2y ago
    You’re worried about this with your original phone too, right? That has nothing to do with being a burner.
maccard 2y ago
There’s no guarantee your $1000 flagship isn’t doing that either. I chose it because it’s a mainstream provider (Nokia) readily available running a supported version of android (12). If you want to install a custom rom, you can get an older flagship (galaxy s9) and flash it for about the same price. My point is if your threat model is devices seized at border, then a burner phone is far more suitable for you than a reboot.
- wutwutwat 2y ago
  levels of trust. I have more trust in the largest most heavily scrutinized device manufacture making an attempt at security than I do with a rando burner device reseller. To be clear, I don't trust either fully, but one has way less trust than the other
  - avianlyric 2y ago
    The whole point of a burner is that you don’t trust it. You only store what you absolutely need to store on there, if anything, and basically assume it’s compromised the second it leaves your sight. The advantage of a burner phone is that it can’t contain anything important, because you’ve never put anything important on it, or connected it to any system that contains important data. So it doesn’t really matter if it’s compromised, because the whole point of a burner, is that it’s so unimportant you can burn it the moment it so much as looks at you funny.
    - wutwutwat 2y ago
      Something a lot of people don't really consider is that people who are doing things that could get them unwanted attention, they wouldn't have incriminating evidence on any device, burner or otherwise. So the theoretical ways around not getting busted, like using a burner, are for movie villains and bond type secret agents. Real criminals (smart ones anyway) aren't conducting anything important over any network, be it ip, telephony, morse code, smoke signal, or otherwise, regardless of the burn-ability of the device they would be using to do so

kshacker 2y ago

It could be doing all that actually but you are not obliged to install all your apps on the burner, just the basic minimum.

wutwutwat 2y ago
You're still walking around with a microphone and gps tracker connected to a cellular network even if the only thing you do is power it on
- brewdad 2y ago
  If that's your threat model, don't carry ANY phone. Probably best not to carry any modern electronic device at all.
  - wutwutwat 2y ago
    Real criminals who don't want to be caught don't carry phones for this exact reason.
    - colimbarna 2y ago
      Sometimes the alternative blows up in your face though.
      - kshacker 2y ago
        Too soon
- maccard 2y ago
  You’re worried about this with your original phone too, right? That has nothing to do with being a burner.

maccard 2y ago

There’s no guarantee your $1000 flagship isn’t doing that either. I chose it because it’s a mainstream provider (Nokia) readily available running a supported version of android (12). If you want to install a custom rom, you can get an older flagship (galaxy s9) and flash it for about the same price. My point is if your threat model is devices seized at border, then a burner phone is far more suitable for you than a reboot.

wutwutwat 2y ago
levels of trust. I have more trust in the largest most heavily scrutinized device manufacture making an attempt at security than I do with a rando burner device reseller. To be clear, I don't trust either fully, but one has way less trust than the other
- avianlyric 2y ago
  The whole point of a burner is that you don’t trust it. You only store what you absolutely need to store on there, if anything, and basically assume it’s compromised the second it leaves your sight. The advantage of a burner phone is that it can’t contain anything important, because you’ve never put anything important on it, or connected it to any system that contains important data. So it doesn’t really matter if it’s compromised, because the whole point of a burner, is that it’s so unimportant you can burn it the moment it so much as looks at you funny.
  - wutwutwat 2y ago
    Something a lot of people don't really consider is that people who are doing things that could get them unwanted attention, they wouldn't have incriminating evidence on any device, burner or otherwise. So the theoretical ways around not getting busted, like using a burner, are for movie villains and bond type secret agents. Real criminals (smart ones anyway) aren't conducting anything important over any network, be it ip, telephony, morse code, smoke signal, or otherwise, regardless of the burn-ability of the device they would be using to do so