this post was submitted on 19 Sep 2024
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Privacy
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I've been trying to work this out since the beginning of the year. This is anecdotally what I've done, what works and what doesn't.
Most of my solution comes from JMP.chat for my phone number along with the cheogram app for functionality.
Basically I got a number for friends and family. I got a second number to give to businesses that don't care about VoIP (my dentist etc). ($5 ea). Cons here are that SMS groups are limited to 10 recipients. This doesn't work for my large family chats (I can get them but can't respond). Another thing I dislike is since its XMPP based, all contacts are listed as their phone number if in a group, so it's hard to tell who's in it. (Solo texts show as names just fine). They have a premium tier that routes differently to allow more than 10 in a group text, but I've tried that twice now and the actual phone calling gets screwed up. So I'm still trying to get it all sorted out (and I'm not optimistic) It's also a service only in USA and CAN.
My original number that I've had for 20 years and all big tech have assigned to me, I ported to google voice ($20 fee)
Since my original phone number was a carrier number it is already assigned to all the stringent companies like banks. They continue to use it without knowing its now a VoIP number. I have all SMS messages forwarded to my email so I don't have to log into google ever. It works perfectly for 2FA. Shortcoming of this is that any group texts the email just says you got a group text, but a single source text the actual text is forwarded. I don't use it for groups so its not a problem but just mentioning it as a potential con. Then of course, its legacy so opening new accounts won't work the same way since its a VoIP number now.
I bought a hotspot from calyx. By far the most expensive part of my solution. But it gives me WiFi access without a standard carrier (it does use T-Mobile but calyx doesn't track you like they do). Check them out to see if it fits your threat model. It works out to about $50/mo but the biggest issue is that its an annual lump sum.
Another option I've been trying is 4freedommobile. They have decent plans and are focused on privacy. Everything runs through their app for encryption. But I've found the app lacking both in UI and functionality. You can't do group SMS (which is apparently coming very soon) but my biggest issue is they require google play services for notifications. They state they don't, but they do. Hands down it just doesn't work without it. So that's a deal killer for me.
Honorable mention is the premium service Elfani. I haven't used it but have considered it. Its very expensive at $99 a month but is secure. However I don't see much on privacy so I'm not sure how different they really end up being from their base AT&T provider.
I have decided this approach is such a pain and hassle that I have had to change forms. Mostly due to modern societies infrastructure making it truly impossible.
I moved all phone related things, programs, apps, anything but dumb flip phone calling and texting to a x86 based tablet. (Even a wwan or 5g sim capable device doesn't have a cellular modem so the easiest route is this)
Hotpot or cable tethering from sim card 5g/4Glte/volte from a smart phone, with your carrier sim of choice, best to pick a device matching their cellular band support in your part of the world. Routing calls /texts to the desktop Linux device of your choice laptop/tablet, 2in1, device of your choosing basically. Using the phone for nothing except internet period..., perhaps a backup device if ever needed worst case if your main goes down or breaks.
Secure and private as one could get, and totally power userable due to linux desktop capabilities and granular controls of literally everything, while still having the best reliable internet coverage, with traditional calling and texting for 2fa and other big corpo stuff. Yes the sim is tied to your real identity, but the actual day to day is much more private and secure than mobile, seperate device, vpn, LUKS drive, veracrypt, all desktop x86 (distro of your choice) Linux abilities. Close as one could get without living under a rock daily. Backups full and snapshots offsite sent to NAS or true cloned drives.
What do you think?
Then you harden the hardware further (so many ways to list again device dependant), and software as well (depends on your OS and needs/wants). (Qubes is too beefy to run all day as a phone replacement regardless of hardware. Batteries are the weak link) That being said pick any distro you feel good about and go.
This form is the most stable method, while being realistic to the goal. I have my own personal preferences for which devices, distros, settings, etc. That I can use daily.
If your internet connection is coming from hotspot tethering to your phone you'll want to put it in a Faraday bag when not in use since your phone will be trackable at all times even if off. If you use a hotspot instead the cell signal and WiFi are still trackable but the lack of Bluetooth and GPS aids greatly in keeping the tracking to a minimum.
Sounds pretty good actually. I repair electronics, I wonder about just removing the GPS chip from the phone?
Either way with internet your going to be tracked the point is to minimize as much ss possible. Triangulation will always be an issue.
I'm not some giant target. Just a daily privacy conscious user like anyone, who wants to support FLOSS projects. I think in my use case I found the least hassle solution. I have no real use for insane amounts of solutions like a journalist or whistler. Just a normal person doing the best they can.
The GPS is usually part of the SOC.
But you can just turn GPS off in the settings.
Yeah I just seen that. GPS is literally the backbone of phones. Wild. Software is the only way to spoof and or disable the feature. Custom ROMs are the only method essentially to gain the control you need. G-OS, lineage, etc etc which means the device also runs leaner and battery lasts days. It'd really the best solution far as I can tell.
Any android phone lets you disable the GPS and use airplane mode, so custom ROMs aren't needed for that.
But de-googled ROMs do indeed have less/no data going to google, although the apps you install will be the same either way.