8 ms·

it is also an important piece of advice that could save someone's life for instance. there's nothing dubious about demanding privacy. now I just wish my nexus 4

it is also an important piece of advice that could save someone's life for instance. there's nothing dubious about demanding privacy. now I just wish my nexus 4 had a removable battery..

wffurr 13y ago
This makes non-removable batteries creepy in addition to annoying!
MichaelGG 13y ago
Does removing the SIM prevent the common ways of tracing, or do they simply go off your IMEI?
- sillysaurus2 13y ago
  The SIM isn't necessary to connect to a tower, meaning your GPS position will be reported unless you remove the battery.
  - fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
    Not necessarily your GPS, using it consumes more power ( ~ 30 - 100mA @3.3V ) than detecting your location passively using the cell-towers. It also takes longer to get a precise fix unless the phone is out in the open.
  - kamjam 13y ago
    If you remove the SIM you are usually still able to make emergency calls (911, 999, 112), which means it can still connect to cell towers.
- dmdeller 13y ago
  Not a direct answer, but: by law, any cell phone can still place calls to 911 with the SIM removed. We can probably extrapolate from there.
  - MichaelGG 13y ago
    Right, I was just wondering about the tracking methods used. Do they select by your handset identifier, or an identifier in the SIM? Would removing the SIM be at all helpful for avoiding tracking if you couldn't ditch a phone with an integrated battery?
    - sillysaurus2 13y ago
      No, it won't help to remove the SIM card. Unless you've removed the battery from your phone, then you can be tracked. And there's no such thing as "can't ditch my phone."
      - MichaelGG 13y ago
        So, for instance, the FBI inputs selectors as the IMEI, not the phone number, when searching for people? And there may be a legitimate reason why you may want to have a device. For instance, to run maps at a certain location. Or having data on the device you need once you arrive at a destination.
        dkersten 13y ago
        I worked telecoms a few years back. One of the things I worked on was an anti spam system for SMS. It had the ability to blacklist, throttle and log messages based on a number of identifiers including imei, phone number, Tower id, service center id and message content (typically binary patterns in non text payloads but there was nothing stopping it to be used to block messages containing certain text or keywords). So if we were using these numbers to block messages then I'd absolutely expect government agencies to use them to monitor or track phones.
    - fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
      No, but you could clone or change your IMEI. Of course, doing so without care might also arouse suspicion, or otherwise betray your ID.
    - alandarev 13y ago
kronusaturn 13y ago
Instead of removing the battery, you could wrap the phone in foil.
- Theodores 13y ago
  Then, when you get stopped by the cops you have to explain why your phone is wrapped in foil. For which there can only be one possible reason. You might as well also carry a set of lock picks, crowbar and an acetylene torch, perhaps with a set of scales so that you can be processed that bit easier...
  - Kell 13y ago
    You can also create a Conspiracy theorist persona. Keep asking questions online with a semi anonymous account about the government excess, about the moon, the aliens, the freemasons etc. Then if in court you can try to argue that for a tin foil hat like you, the actual tin foil cell phone protection isn't an indication of anything. And much less suspicious. :-).
    - Theodores 13y ago
      I like your thinking. Not sure how it could be fully applied if in the police interrogation room having been apprehended in a dark alleyway with two large bin bags full of steaming skunk weed, freshly purchased off a Vietnamese gentleman insistent on counting every note of that £20000 just handed to him. Maybe that is just an edge case though. Perhaps a better idea (and market opportunity) could be a 'walkers rucksack' that has a pocket for your cellphone. This pocket could be lined specifically to act as a Faraday Cage, explicitly so that you can have easy access to your phone for maps etc., yet be fairly certain that your day strolling in the hills will not be interrupted by the office, the wife and other cold callers. Such a bag could be plausibly denied in a way that plain old tin foil could not be.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

it is also an important piece of advice that could save someone's life for instance. there's nothing dubious about demanding privacy. now I just wish my nexus 4 had a removable battery..

wffurr 13y ago

This makes non-removable batteries creepy in addition to annoying!

MichaelGG 13y ago

Does removing the SIM prevent the common ways of tracing, or do they simply go off your IMEI?

sillysaurus2 13y ago
The SIM isn't necessary to connect to a tower, meaning your GPS position will be reported unless you remove the battery.
- fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
  Not necessarily your GPS, using it consumes more power ( ~ 30 - 100mA @3.3V ) than detecting your location passively using the cell-towers. It also takes longer to get a precise fix unless the phone is out in the open.
- kamjam 13y ago
  If you remove the SIM you are usually still able to make emergency calls (911, 999, 112), which means it can still connect to cell towers.
dmdeller 13y ago
Not a direct answer, but: by law, any cell phone can still place calls to 911 with the SIM removed. We can probably extrapolate from there.
- MichaelGG 13y ago
  Right, I was just wondering about the tracking methods used. Do they select by your handset identifier, or an identifier in the SIM? Would removing the SIM be at all helpful for avoiding tracking if you couldn't ditch a phone with an integrated battery?
  - sillysaurus2 13y ago
    No, it won't help to remove the SIM card. Unless you've removed the battery from your phone, then you can be tracked. And there's no such thing as "can't ditch my phone."
    - MichaelGG 13y ago
      So, for instance, the FBI inputs selectors as the IMEI, not the phone number, when searching for people? And there may be a legitimate reason why you may want to have a device. For instance, to run maps at a certain location. Or having data on the device you need once you arrive at a destination.
      - dkersten 13y ago
        I worked telecoms a few years back. One of the things I worked on was an anti spam system for SMS. It had the ability to blacklist, throttle and log messages based on a number of identifiers including imei, phone number, Tower id, service center id and message content (typically binary patterns in non text payloads but there was nothing stopping it to be used to block messages containing certain text or keywords). So if we were using these numbers to block messages then I'd absolutely expect government agencies to use them to monitor or track phones.
  - fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
    No, but you could clone or change your IMEI. Of course, doing so without care might also arouse suspicion, or otherwise betray your ID.
  - alandarev 13y ago

kronusaturn 13y ago

Instead of removing the battery, you could wrap the phone in foil.

Theodores 13y ago
Then, when you get stopped by the cops you have to explain why your phone is wrapped in foil. For which there can only be one possible reason. You might as well also carry a set of lock picks, crowbar and an acetylene torch, perhaps with a set of scales so that you can be processed that bit easier...
- Kell 13y ago
  You can also create a Conspiracy theorist persona. Keep asking questions online with a semi anonymous account about the government excess, about the moon, the aliens, the freemasons etc. Then if in court you can try to argue that for a tin foil hat like you, the actual tin foil cell phone protection isn't an indication of anything. And much less suspicious. :-).
  - Theodores 13y ago
    I like your thinking. Not sure how it could be fully applied if in the police interrogation room having been apprehended in a dark alleyway with two large bin bags full of steaming skunk weed, freshly purchased off a Vietnamese gentleman insistent on counting every note of that £20000 just handed to him. Maybe that is just an edge case though. Perhaps a better idea (and market opportunity) could be a 'walkers rucksack' that has a pocket for your cellphone. This pocket could be lined specifically to act as a Faraday Cage, explicitly so that you can have easy access to your phone for maps etc., yet be fairly certain that your day strolling in the hills will not be interrupted by the office, the wife and other cold callers. Such a bag could be plausibly denied in a way that plain old tin foil could not be.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]