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Burner Phone 101

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Re: Burner Phone 101

#161

Post by lan321 »

Terr_ wrote: post #133
schoen wrote: post #39

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…

> combined with billing requirements There's a certain flavor of US libertarian that complains that they should only be taxed for exactly the road-surfaces they personally use in proportion to how much they use them. In response, I like to point out to them that their dream of "fair billing" can't occur without a nightmare of surveillance, making it easy for the government (or road-owners, and indirectly the governme…

I don't see the issue?

Get on a toll road, pay for a ticket, done. Drive on a normal road, pay for gas, done.

I guess you could make it extremely specific, but then the problem isn't the surveillance, but the price of the cost analysis of driving 1,7 miles on a road in bumfuck nowhere with a J lbs vehicle, exerting X pressure on the road at a standstill going at [Y] speeds, thus generating Z total pressure over time H. In addition the road was I% wet due to rain the day prior.

Re: Burner Phone 101

#162

Post by rtpg »

lmm wrote: post #110
forgotusername6 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

They bypass the firewall precisely because they're roaming SIMs. Their internet connection goes through the home operator. I imagine they simply don't allow selling such SIMs in China. It would be extremely easy to track and flag any that were e.g. used for longer than a few weeks.

I feel like there's not much of a need. The data would be quite expensive.

My impression is that people can get VPN access (and like people working in certain domains will just get VPN access through work) pretty easily in China. Though my deeper impression is most people are just fine.

You're not begging to get onto some chinese social network right?

Re: Burner Phone 101

#163

Post by wraptile »

giggyhack wrote: post #114
schoen wrote: post #39

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?

I'm unconvinced that secure communications is the bottle neck when it comes to criminal prosecution. We can expand police power without sacrificing our communications like that.

Anecdotally, take a look at China where privacy doesn't exist and yet Chinese syndicates are responsible for a major chunk of the issues you've listed. So clearly lack of privacy doesn't even correlate with decreased criminal behavior.

Re: Burner Phone 101

#164

Post by fuckaj »

jajko wrote: post #157
bigiain wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Normally, unless (as I mentioned in another reply) you buy your SIM at a going-away party for a foreign student or backpacker who's leaving the country and doesn't need a local mobile number any more. (Then you just need to worry about the CCTV recording of the place where you pay cash tor the pre paid Visa cards you use to top up the prepaid SIM...)

That would be properly dumb thing to do, giving trivial-to-track thing very much tied to your identity to some random folks... why on earth would anybody smart ever do that? Then you suddenly end up locked by ICE or worse when having layover stop at Miami for example.

Basic police work gets you. They know the sim owner. Know its a backpacker. Find their last location. Interview who was there at the party. Etc.

Re: Burner Phone 101

#165

Post by markus_zhang »

schoen wrote: post #39

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…

Thanks for sharing. I figured it is extremely difficult to spoof or disaggregate the data by ourselves, given the SIM tracking wifi tracking thing basically 7/24, or is there a way to fix it?

Re: Burner Phone 101

#166

Post by Desk1com »

aspenmayer wrote: post #111
Desk1com wrote: post #97

Mental Outlaw and Rob Braxman on youtube have more comprehensive overviews on how to get burner phones

How to Get a Private Phone, Number, and Cellular Data - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaHWcttD0tM (Mental Outlaw) 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: https://www.youtube.com/@robbraxmantech

This one's a good overview where he references his own deeper dives into the tech details. Disclaimer he's selling his own de-googled phone but he's transparent about it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I9bFIrFhDs

Re: Burner Phone 101

#167

Post by Desk1com »

apt-apt-apt-apt wrote: post #72

> 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?

phone get it from a used devices place so it already has someone else's footprint

Re: Burner Phone 101

#168

Post by aspenmayer »

Desk1com wrote: post #166
aspenmayer wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How to Get a Private Phone, Number, and Cellular Data - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaHWcttD0tM (Mental Outlaw) 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: https://www.youtube.com/@robbraxmantech

This one's a good overview where he references his own deeper dives into the tech details. Disclaimer he's selling his own de-googled phone but he's transparent about it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I9bFIrFhDs

I appreciate the link. I get the sense that he is putting out a lot of content because he’s doing updates for his project, along with broad strokes videos for why folks should care about the issues, and also nuanced takes for specific topics, so I couldn’t cut through the noise to find the signal, as I haven’t followed his content closely, but I did like what I saw.

Re: Burner Phone 101

#169

Post by Terr_ »

teekert wrote: post #158
Terr_ wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> combined with billing requirements There's a certain flavor of US libertarian that complains that they should only be taxed for exactly the road-surfaces they personally use in proportion to how much they use them. In response, I like to point out to them that their dream of "fair billing" can't occur without a nightmare of surveillance, making it easy for the government (or road-owners, and indirectly the governme…

Agreed, I always think that all these taxes should indeed just go through fuel. Want a bigger, heavier, more polluting car? Want to drive like a F1 driver? Fine, you pay more. Want to drive a long distance? You'll pay per distance*car_size. Want to go electric? You'll pay tax on electricity in concordance with it's economic price and influence on the planet. One problem in the EU is is that this would need to be roll…

> Want to go electric? You'll pay tax on electricity in concordance with it's economic price and influence on the planet.

The problem is that generic electrical consumption is not (unlike gasoline pumped at a gas-station) a decent proxy for how heavily the purchaser occupies and wears-down roads.

In turn, it makes it harder to connect fair (proportional) amounts to fix the roads.

Re: Burner Phone 101

#170

Post by Terr_ »

lan321 wrote: post #161
Terr_ wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> combined with billing requirements There's a certain flavor of US libertarian that complains that they should only be taxed for exactly the road-surfaces they personally use in proportion to how much they use them. In response, I like to point out to them that their dream of "fair billing" can't occur without a nightmare of surveillance, making it easy for the government (or road-owners, and indirectly the governme…

I don't see the issue? Get on a toll road, pay for a ticket, done. Drive on a normal road, pay for gas, done. I guess you could make it extremely specific, but then the problem isn't the surveillance, but the price of the cost analysis of driving 1,7 miles on a road in bumfuck nowhere with a J lbs vehicle, exerting X pressure on the road at a standstill going at [Y] speeds, thus generating Z total pressure over time…

> I don't see the issue [...] pay for gas

"Them durn politicians are taxin' mah gasoline to build roads clear on the other end 'o town!"

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