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This Company Will Add Phone, AirPod, and Smartwatch Trackers to License Plate Readers
(www.404media.co)
Airplane mode at all times, apparently.
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this post was submitted on 08 Jun 2026
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Tell me your country is falling into private sector authoritarianism without telling me your country is falling into private sector authoritarianism.
Well that's terrible. Gonna need a Bluetooth broadcast device that send all kinds of bogus info to these things and figure out how to spoof a bluetooth mac address. or a hammer or one of them projectile shooters Americans seem to love.
Although, in an alternate timline where technology is used for good, if these things connected to the various find-my networks to help people locate their stuff, that'd be pretty cool.
For MAC spoofing, just do what Apple does; randomly generate a new MAC every minute or so.
I’ve actually got an app on my phone that makes it announce itself as a whole bunch of devices from TVs to pacemakers to headphones, with a rotating MAC. It’s interesting seeing what tries to connect to it.
... why, tho? Is this just an end run around the telcos, who can already get all that information but charge for it and they don't wanna pay?
It's because law enforcement needs way less oversight to search a database through a subscription service than to get phone data from the telcos.
It's a good habit to keep your phone on airplane mode when you can. It also saves on battery.
+1 Phone on airplane mode (eliminates WiFi/BT cellular & GPS tracking)
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run physical mobile hotspot device for data (like Calyx hotspot - +2pts of you pick Moxee model to also run rayhunter)
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connect to hotspot over WiFi with random MAC addresses (effectively eliminates IMSI tracking)
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Enable a solid VPN. (Helps hide location and other usage)
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Use chat/text/phone apps over WiFi (eliminates carrier tracking)
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+5 for degoogled OS with profiles capability
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+3 for Firefox forks like Librewolf or Waterfox with Port Authority and Privacy Badger
EDIT: btw the tech from the article is called SingleTrace...
A little overkill for most people.
There's no IMSI tracking through WiFi afaik, only cell service.
Airplane mode, VPN, and messaging apps is pretty good. I believe randomized MAC is the default on Android so no need to modify there. (Though it's nice to disable that on your home network so you can track yourself.)
Could be overkill, but if you're out and about your cell data is likely on. Then what? Now, my phone, my laptop, or other devices can utilize it. Unlimited data.
I've been inefficiently and lazily looking for something that can automatically turn the mobile network on and off again once per hour (or other period of time, potentially even randomized times).
I have been turning my phone off every time I go to the grocer because I firsthand verified that they have BLE beacons in use.
You just need the worlds smallest most compact faraday container that you can easily stow it in or special faraday pocketed pants lol
I mean, turning it off does the job and is easier.
And saves battery, don’t forget.
The telcos already offer geotracking as a subscription service to LE orgs tho. It's genuinely the same thing, except this data will be crappier and need more direct municipal involvement.
they’ll have access to it without warrants. that is the entire point.
Since when does your telecom know your license plate?
Two ways:
- The first is essentially the same thing as the above product, but without dedicated hardware. They can see the precise route you're traveling and compare that against already extant databases that use security cameras, ordinary highway plate readers or on police vehicles. (They also might just be given it, if you have a car with a SIM card).
- This is the real method: they have all your PII already, so they just buy & package it. It's not like it's a huge secret - it's pretty widely available info from insurance companies and data brokers if you're a big corpo (I think you can also get it with a public records request, though don't quote me on that).
Well, thats appalling.