[conspire] Cellphones and GSM privacy

[Nick Moffitt]

Rick Moen:
> One of these days, when either someone else is paying my cellular bill
> or the data charges become less heinous, I will pick of a smartphone
> to replace my dirt-cheap and privacy-friendly dumb cellular -- but
> will insist on it being one capable of running CyanogenMod, thus
> permitting me to solely determine what the device does, rather than
> some vendor.  Among other things, running a completely open-source and
> independent Android rebuild (e.g., CyanogenMod) should permit
> disabling of all geolocation check-in functions including the Radio
> Resource Location services Protocol (RRLP) ones mandated by the USA
> FCC.  

Alas, this will do nothing to thwart tower triangulation techniques.
Even your "privacy-friendly dumb cellular" is announcing its unique ID
to all towers within range at regular intervals, and what with increased
tower density these days it's all too easy to derive your location.
True, it won't have the same degree of fidelity as even consumer-grade
GPS, but it's a lot more information than I'm comfortable handing over.

So I use a pay-as-you-go sim, paid for with cash.  I also don't sweat it
when I forget the thing or the battery runs out.  After all, it
increases my personal privacy.

-- 
"I've noticed that only racists use the phrase
 "politically correct". Non racists instead use the
 phrase "not racist"."
   -- http://yoisthisracist.com/post/23094911081