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[-] Mettled@reddthat.com 8 points 1 month ago

Switch phone service to VoIP, cancel cell service, all tracking capabilities is gone.

[-] G7dX5kWz9V2R@reddthat.com 17 points 1 month ago

A lot of organizations now block VOIP numbers thanks to stringent KYC laws.

[-] Mettled@reddthat.com 4 points 1 month ago

It is possible to get a real cell number from a big name carrier and then port the number to VoIP company to use VoIP service with an original cell number.

[-] EngineerGaming@feddit.nl 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

In a lot of places, cell carriers enforce KYC too though.

[-] Mettled@reddthat.com 0 points 1 month ago

If you get a cell number with a SIM, then port that number to a VoIP, how does KYC matter since you are going.to have to give that number to people with your name, so businesses or offices can call you through VoIP service?

[-] refalo@programming.dev 2 points 1 month ago

Maybe, but if anything bad happens to originate from that number, the port history is still visible and now they have a suspect.

[-] Mettled@reddthat.com -4 points 1 month ago

Stick with only having a landline until you can get over yourself and your self aggrandizment.

[-] LEVI@feddit.org 16 points 1 month ago

That's just wrong when you're dealing with the government

[-] terminhell@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 1 month ago

Iirc any cell phone is still capable of dialing 911(or equivalent) even without a sim. So id imagine carrier towers and gps could still find it. You'd basically have to keep the device in a ferriday bag. Which complicates actually using it.

[-] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 14 points 1 month ago

That is correct. Any cell phone sold in the United States by law is supposed to be able to dial 911 no matter whether they have a SIM card inserted or not and no matter whether they have service on a SIM card or not and also no matter whether one specific carrier in your area has no signal it will use the others instead. You may be a Verizon customer, but if you dial 911 and an AT&T tower picks up the call first, the AT&T network will serve that call instead.

[-] adespoton@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

One clarification: carrier towers can still find a phone; GPS is passive; your phone locates itself in relation to the GPS satellites.

Most phones are also broadcasting WiFi MAC IDs and Bluetooth MACs, plus hardware and capability strings over Bluetooth. And then any apps you’ve got loaded may also be calling home with your location unless you have that disabled and rotate your ad ID regularly.

[edit] also worth pointing out that even if you turn a smartphone “off” it still pings the local cell towers with its IMEI regularly. Surprised me the first time I witnessed that.

[-] Mettled@reddthat.com -3 points 1 month ago

Why does a phone need to be in a ferriday bag when phone does not have a SIM card because it uses web-based VoIP service? The phone only needs an internet connection, like wi-fi, and can't talk to cell towers. Remove SIM from phone, connect phone to wi-fi to get online to access phone service through the internet, GPS can't function. If a phone without SIM calls 911, it will go through, but dispatch sees no number, no location, no name.

[-] EngineerGaming@feddit.nl 4 points 1 month ago

Yeah, but the operator would see an identifiable IMEI.

[-] refalo@programming.dev 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)
  • any carrier within range can still potentially track you, maybe not with airplane mode but Snowden says don't trust that

  • GPS still "works" without any signal, service or net access

  • AGPS mandate forces 911 calls to reveal your location

For max privacy without going completely analog you'd want a device with NO cellular radio at all

[-] Mettled@reddthat.com -3 points 1 month ago

You have way too much time of doing nothing of significance and fill it with meaningless chatter. Spend more expanding job skills and still listening to so many inexperienced opinions.

[-] terminhell@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 month ago

A sim or cell service has nothing to do with gps. Gps signals arrive from satellites in orbit around the earth....

[-] EngineerGaming@feddit.nl 8 points 1 month ago

You're just shifting trust though - may be good in some cases, but not universal. Aldo does nothing about the cell tower connections tracking the location.

this post was submitted on 12 Nov 2024
273 points (98.6% liked)

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