Privacy

32482 readers

291 users here now

A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

Some Rules

Posting a link to a website containing tracking isn't great, if contents of the website are behind a paywall maybe copy them into the post
Don't promote proprietary software
Try to keep things on topic
If you have a question, please try searching for previous discussions, maybe it has already been answered
Reposts are fine, but should have at least a couple of weeks in between so that the post can reach a new audience
Be nice :)

Related communities

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

founded 5 years ago

MODERATORS

Has anyone successfully used a prepaid phone and number for app registration? (lemmy.world)

submitted 23 hours ago by Aslanta@lemmy.world to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

41 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I’m looking into getting a flip phone with a separate number so that I can sign up for a few apps that without associating them with ~~the complete identity profile in the data marketplace that is linked to~~ my actual phone number.

To be clear, the apps will still be downloaded and utilized on my primary smartphone. But the phone number through which I receive verification codes during registration will be a separate device.

Has any one done this? Tips for selecting a cheapo phone and prepaid service?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] Aslanta@lemmy.world 5 points 21 hours ago (2 children)

This is the answer I was looking for! Thank you!

[–] Thetimefarm@lemm.ee 3 points 7 hours ago

The IMEI number on the phone is essentially locked to the device, swapping sims won't change it. So a phone activated under your real name on one network could technically get traced back to you even when using a different SIM card.

Also, carrying a phone with both SIMs active is completely unprotected from correlation attacks by anyone with access to the cell tower data. It'd be blatantly obvious that the location of one SIM is the same as the other all the time.

All depends on the threat level you expect, but if you're worried about a VOIP account being compromised to get your real number, you are talking about pretty sophisticated actors.

[–] cRazi_man@lemm.ee 8 points 19 hours ago

Just be careful about the sim expiring. Each network will have its own rules. The sim I have stipulates that it needs to be topped up at least once every 6 months and a call or SMS sent every 3 months to keep it active.