lol, they can track the IMEI. the phone component still works without the SIM, for example to make emergency calls. that means it is still able to connect to cell towers and you can still triangulate it's position to some degree.
I'm afraid, you'll have to cut the phone in half instead. can't be helped.
US Mobile offers landlines for $10/mo (link). I can’t speak to that service but I’ve been on a cell plan with them for almost a year and my only complaint has been some weirdness on early auto-payments, but once that was sorted out everything was fine. I’ve referred several people who also seem to be happy with the service as well.
Nah. Rip out the antennae assembly. The phone might be a bit complain-y about it (or fail some kind of pre-boot check and not boot)? never done it to find out though.
It's been a few years since I was inside iPhones regularly but back then.. All of them had a physical antenna or two which plugged into a board on a little coax connection.
Unplug those, no reception, phone just assumes it's in a dead zone.
WiFi would still work if enabled. Which probably means they could find you via WiFi even if switched off in the current world
Cellular typically uses a separate antenna than wifi, on a smartphone i imagine they're directly on the wireless chip instead of a daughter-board? Laptops and bigger stuff usually routes the antenna wires to the back of the lid, behind the screen, im more used to that
Is this what actually got people to microwave their phones? I never saw these and thought it stemmed from fake videos. The design is pretty on point tbh
Even without a SIM card you're not much less trackable. The phone still maintains a connection with the cellular towers for emergency services, sometimes even when it's fully powered off. The best way to prevent this is to remove the battery.
Because "off" is not really off in most mobile devices, more like a deep hibernate. Conveniently you can also no longer remove the batteries from any modern phone.
Because "off" is not really off in most mobile devices, more like a deep hibernate
What is your source on that because when I was working for a wireless telco we did a spectrum analysis of mobiles off and on and the phone signal drops below the noise floor when off with or without the battery connected.
My understanding is that it's not the phone signal, but bluetooth low power mode, which is how many countries did covid exposure tracking.
So not full location triangulation, but more a hypothetical that a business or government could very easily set up bt low power beacons and identify devices that got in range like they did for covid tracking.
It's not cellular bands, I believe it's Bluetooth beacons and possibly UWB. But the fact that "Find My" works even when the phone is "off" is a pretty well documented fact. Of course if you could actually unplug the battery those would die too.
Well, if you were born in 2013 and later, there is a dude named Edward Snowden who told people about this but they called him names. This is not new. Anonymity on the internet has become a fantasy today.
not every phone has this "esim" black magic witchcraft in it today. i got my phone in 2024, and i've got a sim card, the way it should be. esim supporters should be burned at the stake for their heresy!
::: spoiler ...
i'm kidding, of couse. i don't support burnings anymore!
:::
Functionally, AFAIK there's nothing really stopping older devices from being updated to use e-sim. They work just fine for emergency service calls, the little chip doesn't matter that much to the underlying hardware
Eventually they will have eight cameras to track you, the Arachnids from Alpha Centauri need eight perspectives for their VRs. They can work just fine off of 2d screens of course but it's simply not as effective.
I like how they’re ” already ” tracking me. I’m still trying to understand how the meaning changes with and without the quotations, but it certainly feels important or something
🤓 that sim card would still work, the smaller sim cards are the same chip just in a smaller plastic housing, you can cut them to size and some of them (like the one in the photo) come with premade lines as guides
68 Comments
lurch@sh.itjust.works · 148 pts · 198d
lol, they can track the IMEI. the phone component still works without the SIM, for example to make emergency calls. that means it is still able to connect to cell towers and you can still triangulate it's position to some degree.
I'm afraid, you'll have to cut the phone in half instead. can't be helped.
Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io · 18 pts · 198d
Ok, if you say so. Can I just cut the camera out, and still use that?
Geth@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 26 pts · 198d
You can buy pre-cut cameras at the camera shop. They tend to come with a screen and modular lenses.
Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io · 1 pts · 197d
Yeah, but I already spent my allowance on this one. :-(
Psythik@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 197d
Sell phone, acquire camera.
Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io · 2 pts · 197d
Yes, yes, it IS a sellphone.
Korhaka@sopuli.xyz · 12 pts · 198d
They can track my phone, not me. I don't need it on me at all times. I almost considered a landline but they cost a fortune so I decided against it.
Reyali@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 198d
US Mobile offers landlines for $10/mo (link). I can’t speak to that service but I’ve been on a cell plan with them for almost a year and my only complaint has been some weirdness on early auto-payments, but once that was sorted out everything was fine. I’ve referred several people who also seem to be happy with the service as well.
Korhaka@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 197d
Looks Cheaper than any option I saw here in the UK, but also way more expensive than just using a mobile phone.
RamenJunkie@midwest.social · 3 pts · 197d
$10/month more expensive than just using a mobile phone?
Korhaka@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 197d
Well the mobile phone isn't completely free, but its less than £10/month.
Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 6 pts · 198d
Nah. Rip out the antennae assembly. The phone might be a bit complain-y about it (or fail some kind of pre-boot check and not boot)? never done it to find out though.
essell@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 198d
It's been a few years since I was inside iPhones regularly but back then.. All of them had a physical antenna or two which plugged into a board on a little coax connection.
Unplug those, no reception, phone just assumes it's in a dead zone.
WiFi would still work if enabled. Which probably means they could find you via WiFi even if switched off in the current world
Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 5 pts · 198d
Cellular typically uses a separate antenna than wifi, on a smartphone i imagine they're directly on the wireless chip instead of a daughter-board? Laptops and bigger stuff usually routes the antenna wires to the back of the lid, behind the screen, im more used to that
Kolanaki@pawb.social · 54 pts · 198d
People with esims are just gonna assume they aren't being tracked. 😩
TehBamski@lemmy.world · 28 pts · 198d
This PSA has the same vibes of the late great Apple Ads 4chan made back in the day.
Exhibit A:
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ipad-spoofing/
Exhibit B:
2a)
2b)
2c)
reaction)
https://cheezburger.com/110341/4chan-hoax-ios-7-makes-iphone-waterproof
bigchungus@piefed.blahaj.zone · 13 pts · 197d
degen@midwest.social · 4 pts · 197d
Is this what actually got people to microwave their phones? I never saw these and thought it stemmed from fake videos. The design is pretty on point tbh
Speculater@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 198d
Or old-school "Household Hacker."
IratePirate@feddit.org · 2 pts · 197d
Ooooh, that brings back memories! Don't forget the iPad can be used for scales exploit. That was also hilarious.
bigchungus@piefed.blahaj.zone · 20 pts · 198d
Even without a SIM card you're not much less trackable. The phone still maintains a connection with the cellular towers for emergency services, sometimes even when it's fully powered off. The best way to prevent this is to remove the battery.
slazer2au@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 198d
How when there is no power going to the mobile transceiver?
empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 27 pts · 198d
Because "off" is not really off in most mobile devices, more like a deep hibernate. Conveniently you can also no longer remove the batteries from any modern phone.
slazer2au@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 198d
What is your source on that because when I was working for a wireless telco we did a spectrum analysis of mobiles off and on and the phone signal drops below the noise floor when off with or without the battery connected.
wander1236@sh.itjust.works · 17 pts · 198d
iPhones have a feature where they still intermittently broadcast a Bluetooth signal after being turned off or even if they shut off because of low battery: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255809396?sortBy=rank.
Google does the same thing with the Pixel: https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/9338817?hl=en-AU#zippy=%2Cstep-find-offline-devices-and-devices-without-power.
slazer2au@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 197d
We are talking about mobile signal not Bluetooth, check the root comment.
wander1236@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 197d
I'm just addressing what you quoted. They said phones don't actually turn off anymore, you asked for a source on that.
wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 9 pts · 198d
My understanding is that it's not the phone signal, but bluetooth low power mode, which is how many countries did covid exposure tracking.
So not full location triangulation, but more a hypothetical that a business or government could very easily set up bt low power beacons and identify devices that got in range like they did for covid tracking.
slazer2au@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 197d
We are talking about mobile signal not Bluetooth, check the root comment.
floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 0 pts · 198d
It's not cellular bands, I believe it's Bluetooth beacons and possibly UWB. But the fact that "Find My" works even when the phone is "off" is a pretty well documented fact. Of course if you could actually unplug the battery those would die too.
slazer2au@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 197d
We are talking about mobile signal not Bluetooth, check the root comment.
tackleberry@thelemmy.club · 19 pts · 198d
Well, if you were born in 2013 and later, there is a dude named Edward Snowden who told people about this but they called him names. This is not new. Anonymity on the internet has become a fantasy today.
hydroxycotton@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 198d
Also if you existed before 2013, Ed's revelations are somehow still relevant.
kautau@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 198d
I am genuinely surprised at the amount of people in the comments who don’t realize this is satire
UnrepententProcrastinator@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 197d
Oh most people get it would be my guess, they just prefer commenting on mass surveillance.
I mean we have e-sim now but within the demographics of Lemmy, people know about old sim cards for sure.
melsaskca@lemmy.ca · 15 pts · 197d
I always leave my phone at home when doing crimes.
DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social · 1 pts · 196d
Except thought crimes, you need a faraday cage for those
RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 198d
Still tracks you when you connect to wifi.
Luminous5481@anarchist.nexus · 10 pts · 198d
probablymissing@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 198d
not every phone has this "esim" black magic witchcraft in it today. i got my phone in 2024, and i've got a sim card, the way it should be. esim supporters should be burned at the stake for their heresy!
::: spoiler ... i'm kidding, of couse. i don't support burnings anymore! :::
Luminous5481@anarchist.nexus · 7 pts · 198d
probablymissing@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 198d
oh... i just look cringe now...
Luminous5481@anarchist.nexus · 3 pts · 198d
Ziglin@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 198d
I don't see any.
Luminous5481@anarchist.nexus · 2 pts · 198d
papalonian@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 198d
Odd to mention sim cards specifically if that was the intent
Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 4 pts · 198d
Functionally, AFAIK there's nothing really stopping older devices from being updated to use e-sim. They work just fine for emergency service calls, the little chip doesn't matter that much to the underlying hardware
possumparty@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 198d
shit i just use two physical sim cards so that way i can easily swap between my european number and american number
BladeFederation@piefed.social · 9 pts · 197d
Technically correct...
ozymandias@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 197d
close, but the phone will connect to the towers and track you without a sim card.
(also bluetooth and wifi)
carpelbridgesyndrome@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 197d
That cut doesn't actually go through the chip
JackFrostNCola@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 196d
This does...nt kill the crab.
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip · 8 pts · 197d
This is such a old image
WolfLink@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 197d
You can tell because there’s only one camera instead do the 3-6 on a modern phone
DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social · 1 pts · 196d
Eventually they will have eight cameras to track you, the Arachnids from Alpha Centauri need eight perspectives for their VRs. They can work just fine off of 2d screens of course but it's simply not as effective.
confusedwiseman@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 7 pts · 198d
So what do I do with the eSIM?
kylie_kraft@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 198d
put your phone in the microwave on high for 30 seconds, it wipes eSIM
confusedwiseman@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 5 pts · 198d
Bonus super fast wireless charging!!!
CameronDev@programming.dev · 7 pts · 198d
Drill press
Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io · 6 pts · 198d
Use eScissors, cut it!
Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 6 pts · 197d
Everything works perfectly fine, and on top of that all the robot spam calls stopped!
lol_idk@piefed.social · 6 pts · 197d
Delete the French localization too
saltnotsugar@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 198d
This also stops those pesky scam calls!
snek_boi@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 198d
I like how they’re ” already ” tracking me. I’m still trying to understand how the meaning changes with and without the quotations, but it certainly feels important or something
AlexLost@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 198d
This is deliciously evil
papalonian@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 198d
🤓 that sim card would still work, the smaller sim cards are the same chip just in a smaller plastic housing, you can cut them to size and some of them (like the one in the photo) come with premade lines as guides
Texas_Hangover@lemmy.radio · 5 pts · 198d
Thatsthejoke.trd
WorldsDumbestMan@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 197d
No shit. It's why I plan to make custom EM shielding for my devices, including my ID card...just to break the tracking.
ozymandias@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 197d
tinfoil actually works for this
thesohoriots@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 198d
“You remove the SIM card and… yes?”
“Can I cook mine?”
“No, you must eat it raw.”
DylanMc6@lemmy.dbzer0.com · -1 pts · 197d
Or just use a Nokia 3310 phone
Psythik@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 197d
SIM cards existed in the 90s, but I get your point.