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Living without a SIM card

habd.as

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Re: Living without a SIM card

#271

Post by jhabdas »

Nextgrid wrote: post #193
sandworm101 wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Is Starbucks Free WiFi actually run by Starbucks or is it a malicious router placed in the same vicinity? Both. The Starbuck Free WiFi is also a malicious router. All routers should be seen as malicious. That threat model is why we have secure websites. That's why VPNs are always a good idea, or Tor if you are really worried. But even then, those routers too must be deemed untrustworthy. At no point should one eve…

The entire Internet is based on routers aka middlemen. Even your VPN provider is a middleman. If I had to choose, I'd trust a known compromised access point that doesn't know my identity over Yet Another VPN provider to whom I paid money and gave valid billing details. Both are shady, at least the first only gets small bits of traffic that happen to be unencrypted here and there and doesn't have my identity and can o…

VPN services such as Mullvad (and I believe Nord as well) accept cash and crypto in exchange for their service. And both allow WireGuard, which is coming to the 5.6 Linux Kernel. Additionally, Mullvad has no referral model in place to attempt to track individuals via social graphs.

Re: Living without a SIM card

#273

Post by reportgunner »

> Finally, relax. The world isn't going to end if you don't respond to every message instantly. And your friends and family will come to know you weren't actually trying to ignore them when you didn't respond right away.

So much this. Applies to IMs as well.

Re: Living without a SIM card

#274

Post by dktalks »

I would say that this does not work in third world countries and the author also mentions this subtly by saying.

>>If you're in Southeast Asia and in need a taxi service, you can ask someone to hail you a Grab. I've done this numerous times in Kuala Lumpur by kindly asking Coffee shop baristas. The feeling of moving around without your whereabouts being constantly beamed into a database can be quite liberating.

Imagine asking strangers to book you a cab in a country you cannot speak the language of.

While these countries and all first world countries have the ability to hail cabs for instance, asking strangers is basically not the way anyone goes because they don't have a sim card. For example, I do use a data-only SIM in a country I am visiting right now from Google Fi just to do basic things like ordering an Uber, checking bus timings etc.

However, I cannot without a local number 1. Order Food Online 2. Get Any services which require mobile number valid in the country for any services

I am used to doing all this because I have a phone number in my country, but can't do this in another country, because logistics involve delays and they have to be communicated and a local number is the best way to do it. Without wide-spread messaging only services which work out of the box for every app there is no way any establishment can contact you.

Everything is a step in the right direction, for example, people would call on WhatsApp/Facebook Messenger etc, but you don't expect micro-economy people in third world countries to have the skills to do that, they will want a phone number to do it.

Re: Living without a SIM card

#275

Post by reportgunner »

smoovb wrote: post #262
overgard wrote: post #153

If it's for privacy, wouldn't a burner phone make more sense? Otherwise leaching off everyone around you to save a bit of money... seems like it would get old pretty quickly

The 2 device solution seems best. One device for connectivity and essentials, the other device for personal stuff. Prepaid sims are so cheap, can't see how this is about saving money.

I have been using this for the past two years and I'm very happy.

One dumbphone with 5-7 days battery life that does only SMS and Voice calls.

One smartphone that I use for browsing, google authenticator, twitter and some apps and occasionally as a hotspot.

Usually the battery dies in either of those, not in both at the same time. This means that when my phone dies I'm left with either only SMS and Voice or only Internet.

Both phones have dual SIM support so I can keep swapping the prepaid SIMs when needed.

Re: Living without a SIM card

#276

Post by ryanlol »

derefr wrote: post #217
hsitz wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As I understand your point it has absolutely nothing to do with it being illegal to not have a SIM card. Your point is simply that it is impractical not to have a SIM card because that makes it difficult to do bank transactions. Big difference, and using 'illegal' in this context is highly misleading.

I think the implication is that if you wanted to function without a SIM card, your only way to do that would involve eschewing all above-board fiscal infrastructure and working with the grey/black market instead. It's like being an outlaw, or a member of an untouchable caste: sure, you could just hide in a hole forever and wouldn't be breaking any laws, but in order to do anything you'd have to do it in a way that br…

But that’s just not true.

Re: Living without a SIM card

#277

Post by seba_dos1 »

JeanMarcS wrote: post #246
seba_dos1 wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's easy to fix though - I am putting my phone to do-not-disturb (or even airplane) mode when I go to sleep every day and I honestly don't see any disadvantages of doing that. If somebody calls me when I'm sleeping, I will react when I wake up. I don't think giving the people on the whole world the ability to wake me up whenever they want to is justified in any way.

Well I kow I should do that, but perhaps because I'm near my fifties (so lived a lot without a mobile phone), I always fail to remember to active it back when I wake up. My wife (who is younger than me, as in 16y younger) do that too and have no problem. For me, if I do it, I sure remember, but 2 or 3 days later :-D

Sounds like automating it to enable sounds at some hour when you usually are already awake may be an easy solution.

Re: Living without a SIM card

#278

Post by beerandt »

Fnoord wrote: post #254
beerandt wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You presume that he wanted his parents to be able to contact him.

I don't. My use-case, where you have a SIP client and WLAN, allows for you to be disconnected, and only connect when you feel like it. It is akin to Invisible mode on ICQ; and that was perfect for people who wanted to lay low.

But why go to the trouble of that at all if you only want to make outgoing calls, and without giving people you call a return number to reach you.

Re: Living without a SIM card

#279

Post by Fnoord »

beerandt wrote: post #278
Fnoord wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't. My use-case, where you have a SIP client and WLAN, allows for you to be disconnected, and only connect when you feel like it. It is akin to Invisible mode on ICQ; and that was perfect for people who wanted to lay low.

But why go to the trouble of that at all if you only want to make outgoing calls, and without giving people you call a return number to reach you.

People need your return number for voicemail (if you decide to opt into that; personally, I don't), and to recognize who's calling them. I know enough people who don't accept a call from a "private number" or "unknown number".

I have my smartphone 24/7 on DND. I only feel/hear my vibration motor if I get a call. Sometimes, this causes me to miss phone calls, but in general it works well enough. It also makes me one of these people who isn't annoying in public transport or on yoga class.

Re: Living without a SIM card

#280

Post by guidance »

hilbert42 wrote: post #263
guidance wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

DuckDuckGo isn't an anonymous search engine. It's owned by the same people who own Google. And Microsoft. And Intel. And Facebook. etc....etc. Likewise, what firmware is running on that phone's baseband chip? Your plans aren't foolproof, but you're on the right path.

It's not a matter of being completely anonymous, if that concerned me then I'd never use the internet. After all, ISPs know who I am and where I'm located so anonymity isn't the issue. What is at issue is the wholesale collection of our data by Big Tech without our full permission and proper disclosure, and that includes the end uses to which it is put and who has possession of it. The other key issue is the atrociou…

Good post bro. +1
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