3 ms·
There is only 1 real solution: Put your cell phone in flight mode and use it exclusively as a PDA/music player/etc. Let people contact you on a landline and e
by f_salmon 13y ago
There is only 1 real solution:
Put your cell phone in flight mode and use it exclusively as a PDA/music player/etc.
Let people contact you on a landline and email - more than enough.
- XorNot 13y agoI'm pretty sure this doesn't work. i.e. even in flight mode, the baseband processor is still powered and will passively listen for cell-tower requests, so presumably it can still be told to wake up? I know its true of phones that are "off" without the battery removed - stands to reason it applies in flight mode too.
- rcxdude 13y agoI've not seen any evidence this is the case without explicit tampering with the phone (i.e. installing spyware which then fakes the 'off' state in software).
- 3pt14159 13y agoIt's in the patriot act that the government is allowed to do it, so I'd imagine it is possible.
- dobbsbob 13y agoCan also go into recovery and nuke the baseband stack modem.img since wifi only needs the application OS kernel.
- grkvlt 13y agoTechnically this isn't true, at least not as a blanket statement regarding all phones. Since the power button is a 'soft' switch, controlled by the phones operating system, it's possible that a phone can be compromised so that even if it appears to be 'off' it is actually still powered up and listening to the cell network, but this is in no way a 'standard' feature. The same attack vector/vulnerability is present for flight mode, a compromised phone can lie and report that the radio is off when malicious software is using it. Removing the battery is a mechanism to preclude any possibility of your phone being exploited, and may be appropriate depending on your risk tolerance and/or threat model.
- tripzilch 13y agoafaik, actually wrapping the phone in tinfoil blocks the signals pretty well. try it, you can't call a phone wrapped in tinfoil. if you have a tinfoil lined bag (like a thermo lunchbag), it's even easier than removing the battery.
- higherpurpose 13y agoThat's a good idea. You won't be able to stream something live anymore, though, but I guess either you record it and later upload it to websites, or some people will have to take the chance to stream it.
- madaxe_again 13y agoFlight mode does not make you untraceable - it just makes your phone less useful. If you're doing something illegal, or talking to someone about something illegal, leave your phone at home, and use your $15 dumbphone with an unregistered throwaway sim.
- pessimizer 13y agoOr rather, buy a PDA/music player rather than a phone.
- JetSpiegel 13y agoWhere can I buy one of those? Haven't seen an MP3 player or a PDA for sale in ages.
- nicolethenerd 13y ago@JetSpiegel http://www.apple.com/ipod-touch/ http://www.apple.com/ipod-touch/