111–120 of 198 posts
Mental Outlaw and Rob Braxman on youtube have more comprehensive overviews on how to get burner phones
There were simply too many possibly related videos on the Rob Braxman Tech channel to determine which one you might mean. Do you have a recommendation?
Here's his channel for folks who are new to his content:
While I like the sentiment of the article, I think most people are not aware of how hostile baseband firmwares are implemented on most SoCs that phones come with. Usually the cell tower handshakes that make you trackable can't be put off, meaning the modem will run in sleep mode even when you are in airplane mode (which is kinda funny considering the dangers of air travel, right? Right?). Are there actually smartphon…
You might be looking for an android based Media player device. But they are likely not ideal for the use case...
When I was working at EFF, I started writing (but never finished) a couple of essays along the lines of "the degree of trackability of mobile phones is an unfortunate accident, and we should fix it". It basically comes from routing requirements (especially to receive incoming phone calls) combined with billing requirements (to make people pay for their connectivity) combined with the empirical requirement to see whic…
When I was working at EFF, I started writing (but never finished) a couple of essays along the lines of "the degree of trackability of mobile phones is an unfortunate accident, and we should fix it". It basically comes from routing requirements (especially to receive incoming phone calls) combined with billing requirements (to make people pay for their connectivity) combined with the empirical requirement to see whic…
I absolutely understand the sentiment and the goals that citizens should, by default, not be tracked. However, how do you square that with the proof, time and again, that truly secure and encrypted networks are primarily use by criminals (drug/human traffickers, and plenty of other people) who, through their trade, make the world a shittier place for the rest of us?
In many countries you need a valid government ID document to activate a mobile service which means burners do not really exist in those places. Unless you bought a pixel, graphene’d it and then paid a homeless person to activate a pre-paid data only sim which you would top up with vouchers paid in cash and used a von and international voip service… A lot of effort though
I was surprised when a SIM I purchased on Amazon was not only able to connect in China but was also able to bypass the great firewall. I wonder how these travel sims get round the government regulations.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you need to do this then start by figuring out why you need to do it, and adjust your approach too your threat model. Because the most significant evidence we have lately is that in-person meetings or dead drops and other low tech means are how you avoid being tracked. Turning on any sort of radio transmitter is just turning on a big flash light into the sky. Turning on anything relatively uncommon is even worse:…
> Because the most significant evidence we have lately is that in-person meetings or dead drops and other low tech means are how you avoid being tracked. How many cameras did you just go by? did you have your cell phone on you? how many networks did it connect too? how many bluetooth broadcasts did it passively send out? Not being tracked and being in public are slowly becoming an untenable duo.
But it isn't illegal to wear a hat and sunglasseses, for example, and it is common to do so.
> Buy phone & service in cash Movies make it seem anyone can walk into any store in a trenchcoat and walk out with a burner phone ready to go. I get the service part (you can buy prepaid SIMs in cash). What about the phone?
The phone part is easier in many places. I've personally bought both a phone and SIM card in cash from a corner store in SF. I was asked to provide some legal information for the SIM, but they pointedly did not look at my ID or anything, so I was free to write whatever I wanted on the order form. They told me only the SIM required the info, not the phone.
While I like the sentiment of the article, I think most people are not aware of how hostile baseband firmwares are implemented on most SoCs that phones come with. Usually the cell tower handshakes that make you trackable can't be put off, meaning the modem will run in sleep mode even when you are in airplane mode (which is kinda funny considering the dangers of air travel, right? Right?). Are there actually smartphon…
meaning the modem will run in sleep mode even when you are in airplane mode AFAIK this is not true at least for the Mediatek 65xx and early 67xx platforms; I've analysed the firmware and hardware on those. They actually power off the modem and rest of the RF system when in airplane mode. The modem only boots up and starts searching for a signal when you take it out of airplane mode, which is why it takes a noticeable…
When I was working at EFF, I started writing (but never finished) a couple of essays along the lines of "the degree of trackability of mobile phones is an unfortunate accident, and we should fix it". It basically comes from routing requirements (especially to receive incoming phone calls) combined with billing requirements (to make people pay for their connectivity) combined with the empirical requirement to see whic…
I absolutely understand the sentiment and the goals that citizens should, by default, not be tracked. However, how do you square that with the proof, time and again, that truly secure and encrypted networks are primarily use by criminals (drug/human traffickers, and plenty of other people) who, through their trade, make the world a shittier place for the rest of us?