The Myth of Airplane Mode
You're being lied to. Airplane mode does NOT hide your location. Google and Apple continue to collect it, by seeing what WiFi endpoints are near you, and then figuring out where you are through a process known as "WiFi Triangulation". [1]
Further, phones have two "brains", and the part that connects to the cell towers does NOT have to obey Airplane mode. This is called the "baseband modem", and airplane mode is an API request from the main motherboard to this modem, ASKING if it would PLEASE consider killing service.
And even worse, the baseband doesn't even need a SIM card. You can call 911 emergency without service, without wifi, just standing outside. Calyx Institute devs LIE about this on Matrix, but dial it and hear your local operator tell you the truth.
In fact, you don't even need to be the government to abuse this. Ralf-Philipp Weinmann of the University of Luxembourg demonstrated with just around $1500 in equipment, ANY RANDOM civilian hacker, who doesn't even work for the telecom, can FAKE being the cellphone tower near you. Source:
https://comsecuris.com/papers/woot12-final24.pdf
This is all why it's so critical to use GrapheneOS which helps against these types of attacks, and to buy your phone anonymously in cryptocurrency, because if you don't, it's essentially like a dog collar. At their will, they can see where you are, who you're standing near (if they have a phone too), and even turn the mics on to record.
My abusive competitors in the degoogled phone industry all charge way above Google's official store, and Google's search gives them traffic to make it harder to switch. For example on the model 8:
AbovePhone.com
Pixel 8: $999
DigitalPrivacy.shop
Pixel 8: $729
Google Official Store
Pixel 8: $599
While as I sell them BELOW the official store:
Simplified Privacy
Pixel 8: $499
PLUS you get a consult on its use, Why? Because I am on a mission. I need to get these phones, and the privacy that goes with it, in the hands of as many people as possible. And if Google search wants to oppress and censor our website, so be it. You and you alone deserve your data:
https://simplifiedprivacy.com/they-see-everything/index.html
& [1] WiFi Triangulation: https://simplifiedprivacy.com/googles-surveillance-the-shocking-truth/index.html