This is something I’ve been thinking about for a while. I’ve decided to get a Pixel with GrapheneOS as my next phone and I’m trying to decide the pros and cons of putting a SIM card in it. Convenience vs privacy, public wifi with a VPN vs using phone data, etc.
I can’t get a SIM card where I live without ID and I’m looking to reduce being tracked as much as possible. Does anyone else do the same thing?
A SIM card only gives you cell phone service. The cellular modem on your phone still connect to towers you’re still tracked by your IMEI, you can still make emergency calls, your phone is still pinging towers, you’re just making things inconvenient for yourself
It’s a good point. It’s important to set your phone to airplane mode in addition to not using cell service.
I also have a data only eSIM (silent.link) but leave my phone on Airplane and use WiFi most of the time. In addition to privacy, it’s also way cheaper!
Most carriers know your name, your internet usage metadata, and your location all the time using cell tower triangulation. There have been multiple reports of phone providers selling location data and sercurity breaches. If you have a phone that provides MAC address randomization and you use a VPN then I think using public WiFi is more private than having your mobile data turned on all the time.
I did for awhile but it was stock android and I was not doing it for privacy reasons. I just see no reason to pay for something I don’t particularly want. I use a talknow sim currently but mostly use it on wifi.
I tried, but could never find anything that would work as a VOIP subsititute. So now I have a pixel that does everyrhing except phone calls. Getting close to just giving up and slamming a sim in it because at least it’s a little better than stock android.
If I had to go WiFi-only, there would probably be hours-long gaps when I am unreachable. So my compromise is to use a non-KYC data-only SIM. Even if VPN is left off, it routes traffic first to a datacenter far from my actual location, and there is no longer a route for unencrypted calls and SMS and the associated spam. I don’t have a habit of streaming media on the go, so the data lasts quite a while and there isn’t much of an urge to use public WiFi.
Doesn’t fully eliminate the problem as IMEI is still sent and the cellular modem is still a rogue black box, but a step in the right direction. Knowing that the cellular modem can run whatever code with deep privileges as it wishes, I try to keep as little of my business on my phone as I can, with the bulk of my workflow centered around my laptop. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think this automatically makes me immune, but I do think it’s a neat little exercise. Perhaps one could abstract the problem of the modem by getting a separate wireless hotspot.
My friends and family have accepted that they either need to get Signal, XMPP, or Matrix or I will be largely unreachable. The only remaining need for SMS and GSM voice calls stems from work, which is all handled by my work phone that is powered down, or at least disconnected, once I leave for the day. It sucks that this is not the norm, but it looks like I am quite fortunate that my friends, family, and employer all tolerate this workflow.
Take a look at “IoT” SIM cards, they’re a bit expensive and data-only, but might not be subject to the same KYC regulations.
That’s a strange argument, why do you and lots of people replying here believe they are NOT tracked over WiFi which are themselves relying on ISPs?
If you don’t trust your ISP why would you trust random ISPs more?
I don’t trust random ISPs. But with MAC addresses randomization and a VPN I don’t have to trust them.
what do those public wifis see? randomized mac addresses nowadays, mostly. that compared to your constant IMEI and the KYC the company submitted you to…
No I have people I want to be able to contact me.
I have a Pixel 7a with GOS in airplane mode, with WiFi only. My old phone with the sim inserted is on Lineage OS and hasn’t fully (has a case of occasional ghost touch) died yet. I only use the old phone for cellular telephony.
You can call emergency services even without a sim, so you might not be as disconnected as you would think
Yes, the cell tower can see the unique IMEI of your phone, so as long as the cell radio is on, the cell company can at least see what tower that IMEI is in range of. And if they can track the purchase of the phone to you, then they can identify your signal.
My kids have phones with no SIM card; they can call 911 and they can use WiFi when in range; I have them set up with a VPN to home, so that’s the only connection any hotspot sees.
I have a data-only sim, otherwise no sim for phone calls. My phone stays in airplane mode nearly always. I use voip to make and receive calls when wifi is an option. Most voip providers, afaik, are not privacy respecting including the one I use. Planning on switching to jmpchat someday which is all about privacy.
I use phones without Sims, but it’s because I’m cheap and I have a collection of weird phones.
I have a phone with no sim that I use sometimes over wifi, but I have another one with a sim that I sometimes use as a wifi hot spot for the no-sim phone.
i have my boss’s old one here that’s pretty much only used for testing mobile web and for its camera. i use a ‘dumb’ phone, and its camera doesn’t work (was crap-tier anyway when it did). i think it has 10 on it. it doesn’t leave the office, doesn’t get used that much, and has no google account linked to it anymore since it was totally reset when it was replaced earlier in the year… the inability to use google play to install a few apps reduces its usefulness. i got f-droid on it but not everything is available from it.
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