quoting
naddr1qq…483aYour phone is not your friend
Your phone is not your friend. It is a filthy little snitch that tells anyone who asks where you are, what you are doing, and who you are doing it with. You can obscure and hide some things through the use of privacy respecting software like encrypted communication apps, Tor pathways using Orbot, or the base OS like Graphene but metadata and geolocation is still very loud and very present. It is built into the infrastructure of how cell phones work. Your phone is tracked at all times through every cell tower area you pass through logging your IMEI and by extension your phone number and identity. This data is logged and saved forever by companies who use and sell it for corporate surveillance and post Patriot Act give it to police and government agencies warrantlessly.
Fine, I will just turn it off then. Nice try, but unless the battery can be removed it still tracks you. You didn’t think it was weird that Find My Phone still works even if the phone was off?
Luddites are not off the hook. That dumb phone or flip phone is tracked just the same and since it will not run encrypted communications you are screaming out the content of every call or text and not just the metadata.
OK, I will get a burner phone or anonymous SIM card not tied to my identity. Better but not bullet proof. This is great for use and toss but if you continue to use it multiple times, around other devices that are tied to you or your social network, or take it to your home, work, or any location associated with you then it will be doxxed. Once doxxed all past information associated with it becomes now linked to you.
Metadata, Profile, and Network
Your network is very easily known and built up over time. Who are the contacts saved in your phone. Who do you interact with. Who do you call, text, email, DM, or follow on social networks. Who do you never contact but your geolocation overlaps with them often. Now look at all those contacts and who do they have a network with. A giant spider web of connections. If by 7 degrees of Kevin Bacon you have a shady contact in your network then you may get more scrutiny than you may realize.
You are spilling metadata everywhere you go along with your geolocation. Time stamps, who you contacted, how long did you talk to them, which app was used when, internet searches, map app searches, etc. People are creatures of habit and over time this metadata builds a pretty good profile on you.
Phone becomes active around 7am when they wake up. Scans social media and news sites for usually 30 minutes. Assume they are taking a shower because the phone is on but not being used until 8am most week days. Travels to coffee place on the corner most mornings and then goes to their place of work. Between 9:30 and 10:30am they again scan social media and news sites for a solid 10 minutes, probably their bathroom schedule. During lunch they frequent these locations with these people.
You get the point. This profile, plus your geolocation history, plus your network paints a pretty complete picture on you. Surprisingly it is not what you do but when you do something different that gets attention.
There was a big protest last night that we are not happy about. We already have a list of everyone who took their phones with them at that geolocation and timestamp. We run a algorithm looking for simple patterns. John is usually at a restaurant eating with friends during this time but strangely his phone was left at home and turned off during that time frame. Did anyone in his network go to the protest that we have already confirmed? Anyone in his network follow the protest Facebook page, or have a deviation from their usual pattern such as their phone being somewhere dormant when it is usually active during this time?
What can you do?
You can choose to do nothing. You can just live your life with the awareness that you are being tracked and profiled, maybe work to limit how much metadata you are spilling out to the universe. If you are a activist, a oppressed minority, live in a oppressive regime, or your country suddenly becomes oppressive this might not be an option.
Randomize or maintain your profile. This is hard but not impossible. Make your profile and habits so chaotic that any deviation is not a deviation. Most people cannot do this but if you are a couch surfing, different place constantly, new friends and new activities on the daily agent of chaos then maybe this is a option. On the opposite extreme maybe you are very regimented person so be aware of that and always stick to your routine. If you want to go to that protest but are usually home doom scrolling youtube during that time then set your phone to no sleep mode and set up to watch a long playlist of youtube videos left at home while you go to the protest.
Home phone only. Maybe you decide to have a home phone only, no not a landline, but a actual smart device that can utilize encrypted communications services but never leaves the house. This could potentially save you a lot of money on data plans, texts, and minutes if you don’t buy a network plan and just use VOIP on your home WIFI. Or maybe you have a very minimum network plan and when you leave the house you either take it with you in a Faraday bag or have a secondary device that lives in a Faraday bag that only comes out for emergencies and to check in. Just be aware that the time in and out of the Faraday bag is part of your profile.
No Phone. You can have no phone whatsoever. This will not work for most people in the modern age but if you have a extreme risk profile then this might be the extreme option you need.
How do you survive with no phone or only a home phone?
Just some alternatives and some ideas. You can still buy WIFI only devices that have no network connection and / or stay in airplane mode. Old MP3 players for music and podcasts while on the go. Old phones that you can download maps to for navagation and use VIOP services in WIFI hotspots.
Emergency Communication and Go Bag
Prepper culture has given us all sorts of bags: bug out bags, get home bags, never coming back bag, and go bags. I define go bags as very small, light weight, and compact bags or kits. They carry very minimum, bare necessary gear, and ideally are so small that you actually have it on you, in your purse or computer satchel or car all of the time. Emergency communication will be part of this. This is when the burner phone, purchased with cash out of town, and stored in a Faraday bag all the time shines. It has no connection to you and has no history of use. It is a have but hope to never use oh shit device.
If you are the activist, the whistle blower, the oppressed that they could come after at any time, or the journalist that investigates corruption, organized crime, or terrorism then you need this.
I will cover go bags in more details later, probably in a key note.
Always forward, GHOST
GHOST on Nostr: It's amazing how people get so mad when you tell them the truth that they didn't want ...
It's amazing how people get so mad when you tell them the truth that they didn't want to hear.