Do you have a preferred technique for limiting mobile/cell phone tracking?
#privacy #surveillance #tracking #mobile
@syntax I mainly just disable WiFi/Bluetooth whenever possible. Stores and other business commonly use devices that fingerprint you using this method so thay can, for example, send some marketing bs when you are near the store or gather general data that is sold off. It’s not the most devious form of tracking, but it is annoying and relatively easy to mitigate.
@self Indeed. I think at the very least everyone should have Wi-Fi and bluetooth switched off unless needed.
@syntax I use a POCSAG pager and keep the phone powered off.
When it's on, it's in airplane mode with only wifi turned on. I use a Calyx hotspot for Internet connectivity and Soprani.ca for VOIP/SMS.
@freakazoid Thanks, haven't heard of some of these tools. Could you provide some links for further research?
@syntax I suppose that if I cared about "being tracked", I would turn off my phone, cancel my internet, and go live in a cave in the mountains. As it is, living in the modern world means sharing your information, which is a kind of modern currency.
@Korsier I think living in the modern world shouldn't require a trade-off of privacy etc. in order to share information in ways you can control (to the extent possible). I think one of the biggest problems today is people's conditioned belief that you simply have to relinquish control and rights in order to get the best out of technology.
@Korsier Of course, the first thing I think everyone should do is leave Google and Facebook behind for good, and ideally help others find better alternatives for social media (i.e. Mastodon etc.), cloud backups etc. If you want an alt to Google Drive, I'd highly recommend @nextcloud
@Korsier @syntax Which is why some of us don't use those things. Setting up your own server gives you much more freedom than a place to dump files. Yunohost & Freedombox make it relatively easy for those without much experience. I use one of these and now run my own servers for mastodon, xmpp, matrix, email, calendar & search. All this on a 10 year old net top. You really should give it a try.
@eliasr Do you kill everything, or just Wi-Fi and Bluetooth?
@syntax I didn't get my librem5 yet so this remains to be seen, but I think I will mostly kill WiFi and bluetooth but still have the cellphone part on because I normally want to be able to receive calls. But I appreciate having the option of turning everything off and still being able to use the phone (ok manybe not a "phone" anymore then, but a pocket computer anyway).
@jameshjacksonjr @eliasr @purism I really want a Pinephone! Just have to wait till they're more readily available to the masses...
@jameshjacksonjr
No I felt they were a bit over my budget.
@eliasr @purism
@syntax @eliasr @purism yeah you missed out 14 hours earlier they were still in stock and wow they want 749.99'for it haven't looked at the price in ages 149.99'sounds a lot better price back when I backed the Librem 5 in october 2017 it was only 599.99 so its increased a lot its going to increase again to 799.99 once the final evergreen model is ready to ship.
@syntax @eliasr https://fosstodon.org/@PINE64/104490888609917758 see they have some more get one before they are gone.
@jameshjacksonjr
I'm actually in two minds about whether to invest this early on. I understand these models are aimed more at early adopters and developers, and i feel I wouldn't get a lot of use out of it with hardly any of the usual apps I use etc. Still a happy LineageOS user for now. Still love to see all the progress though.
@syntax yeah some people its hard getting off android apps best to to wait see if those apps you need come my app needs are simple on the go Mastodon IRC Matrix browser sms browser email podcasts music calls and thats about it the rest I do on my laptop.
@syntax what apps do you use that wouodnt be available on pinephone and or Librem 5?
@jameshjacksonjr
I guess a lot of the android apps I install via the F-Droid store, such as ProtonVPN/OpenVPN, Element, Nextcloud apps, Session, Signal, Fedilab, Firefox etc.
@jameshjacksonjr
Some of those I had to install manually actually, such as Session and Signal.
@syntax @jameshjacksonjr @purism They're selling a new PinePhone variant now, with larger RAM and postmarketOS installed: https://store.pine64.org/product/pinephone-community-edition-postmarketos-with-convergence-package-limited-edition-linux-smartphone/ -- "Estimate dispatch in late August, 2020" it says.
@syntax yep. Don't touch android.
😊
@Wetrix
Not even custom ROMs (sans Google)?
For context, as much as I love the idea of being completely untrackable (e.g. airplane mode or faraday), I don't go to this extreme, partly due to my partner's protests at not being able to contact me in case of an emergency, which is of course a valid reason.
I wanted to do this poll because I'm still on the fence and I'm always looking for inspiration and new ideas/perspectives.
So don't hesitate to go on a 3-toot rant about your chosen techniques - I'm all ears (eyes). 👍