Keeping iPhone off-the-grid

[Ambrosia7177]

Just got a mobile plan for my iPhone which was used as a camera.

I am very concerned about being tracked.

Is it correct that if I simply put my iPhone into "Airplane Mode" that nobody can track me??

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Originally I was just going to take the SIM card out of my phone unless I explicitly needed to get a text message - for example, when setting up my Twitter account.

Of ocurse it would be much easier if I can leave my SIM card in, but not have AT&T (or the NSA) figure out where I buy groceries, or when I last went for them?!

 

[TiggrToo]

Just got a mobile plan for my iPhone which was used as a camera.

I am very concerned about being tracked.

Is it correct that if I simply put my iPhone into "Airplane Mode" that nobody can track me??

Why are you so concerned? Trust me, unless you're totally off the grid, you're already being tracked.

Do you use a computer to surf the web? Know that they're now looking at using mouse movements to uniquely identify who you are.

Cell phone providers are, TBH, the least of your concerns...

 

[BigMcGuire]

I got all excited and thought this was talking about how to power your phone 100% off the electrical grid. I did this for years with an Anker 21w solar panel setup --- charging Anker lithium ion batteries and then charging my phone/iPad. Got difficult in the winter but I managed to do it for a long time. Yeah, buying those batteries/panels was a lot more expensive than just using wall power but you know... hobbies.


On Topic:

Putting your phone in airplane mode doesn't prevent tracking. If you turn on wifi and then use that wifi to go to websites, websites will know where you are via that wifi.

Apple has above average privacy and security controls. I wouldn't bother with the taking out of your SIM card or anything like that. Invest in a VPN that hides your identity. Do the research to find one that works for you. I personally use TunnelBear. Though I rarely use these when at home, only when I'm out and about.

Use an adblocker. I personally use AdGuard Pro (for my Windows devices) and 1Blocker for my iPad/Mac/iPhone.

Use DuckDuckGo as your default search engine:

(I personally use Bing which is not privacy focused).

Don't use Facebook, don't use social media, and don't use anything but cash at stores. This will prevent a good chunk of tracking that goes on despite what you do on your devices.

My wife, just by using her Target Card, had advertisers track her pharmacy purchase to her Facebook account (with no action on her own) so that a sensitive pharmacy purchase was all over her Facebook page the next day. Target (and most other stores) sells purchase info to advertisers who link it to social media if you use a credit card or something similar.


Summary:
Use a VPN, use DuckDuckGo as a search engine, use a good adblocker, avoid social media, and you should be way above average when it comes to tracking.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Why are you so concerned?

Because I'm not a doormat like most people.

If you don't fight to maintain a reasonable level of privacy, then you will get powned very quickly.

Trust me, unless you're totally off the grid, you're already being tracked.

That's like saying, "I won't wear a seatbelt, because I might still die in a car crash."

Do you use a computer to surf the web? Know that they're now looking at using mouse movements to uniquely identify who you are.

Yes, but I also use things like a VPN and tweaked DNS to protect me, along with lots of other privacy things.

It's not about eliminating tracking, it's about managing it to a reasonable level...

And since Apple and AT&T don't have anything on my life currently, I want to keep it that way.

So can you answer my original question?

Cell phone providers are, TBH, the least of your concerns...

Cell phone providers and credit card companies probably have the ability to track people and establish their living patetrns more than any other group out there.

So who do you think I should be really worried about?

 

[Expos of 1969]

As per your recent posts you are in the process of trying to establish a twitter account for your business and you are worried about being tracked by using your phone?

 

[TiggrToo]

As per your recent posts you are in the process of trying to establish a twitter account for your business and you are worried about being tracked by using your phone?

The irony of this is quite palpable....
[automerge]1593796545[/automerge]

And since Apple and AT&T don't have anything on my life currently, I want to keep it that way.

Sure....sure...you keep believing that if it'll help you sleep better at night.

Truth is that there's probably more than your care to realize.

Case in point - my mother in law. Doesn't own a computer, has but a single landline, no cell phone, no Cable service. One bank account, no credit card.

If I search for her name and state online I can get her name, full address (and previous) telephone, name of all her kids, bothers and sisters etc. and her age. And that's without even paying for any actual real data.

And you think you're somehow immune?

 

[Ambrosia7177]

I got all excited and thought this was talking about how to power your phone 100% off the electrical grid.

*LMAO*

Sorry, just spy stuff - no green stuff!!

I did this for years with an Anker 21w solar panel setup --- charging Anker lithium ion batteries and then charging my phone/iPad. Got difficult in the winter but I managed to do it for a long time. Yeah, buying those batteries/panels was a lot more expensive than just using wall power but you know... hobbies.

Thumbs up to you!

On Topic:

Putting your phone in airplane mode doesn't prevent tracking. If you turn on wifi and then use that wifi to go to websites, websites will know where you are via that wifi.

I broke down after 20+ years and got a mobile plan PURELY so that I can receive security codes via SMS that many companies/websites no requie to set up online accounts.

I have my Retinas and MBP, so I don't need a phone to do things online.

And I use VoIP which is still superior in many ways to any phone.

And I don't text people.

What is ironic about all of this, is that after I caved in and got a mobile lan, the jerks over at Twitter are still causing me enormous pain.

The night after getting my mobile plan, I went into my Twitter account to add my mobile # and set up 2FA, and it said that my account was "suspended". Probably because when I set up my Twitter account a month ago, I had no way to get text messages via my VoIP number.

Twitter is a blackhole for sure.

So I put in a help ticket, nd then afetr a wait you get a level 2 response to put in another help ticket, and then you wait for someone - likely in some 3rd-world country to give you a cut-and-paste response.

For all I know I might have lost the Twitter account I had with my company brandingf or good, and it's not like you can call them.

So I sit and wait and wait and wait on a Fourth of July weekend, and more breaking news stories pass me by on Twitter...

I'll be pretty pissed off if after breaking down and getting a mobile plan, I lose my twitter account?!


Anyways, back to your last comment...

So I have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned OFF, and I don't surf the internet on my iPhone, and I don't make or receive calls on my iPhone.

It is purely used as a camera and to receive security codes for account setups and for 2FA.


So if I can find a way to prevent my iPhone from talking to things like cell towers, then it should not be tracking my location.

Will "Airplane Mode" help with that?

Apple has above average privacy and security controls. I wouldn't bother with the taking out of your SIM card or anything like that. Invest in a VPN that hides your identity.

I do use a VPN on my Macs.

But would a VPN help when I recive a text message?

More importantly, a VPN will NOT prevent AT&T or Apple from knowing that I went to a fireworks show last night in another state...

THAT is the kind of crap that I want to prevent!!

Do the research to find one that works for you. I personally use TunnelBear. Though I rarely use these when at home, only when I'm out and about.

If you use a VPN with the 5, 9 or even 14 eyes, you are F d.

I use IVPN which should be safe.

Use an adblocker. I personally use AdGuard Pro (for my Windows devices) and 1Blocker for my iPad/Mac/iPhone.

On my macs I use Firefox, AdBlocker Plus, uMatrix, NoScript, Privacy Badger, HTTPS Everywhere, Decentralize, etc.

Use DuckDuckGo as your default search engine:
View attachment 930327 (I personally use Bing which is not privacy focused).

Yeah, except I won't be surfing on my iPhone.

Don't use Facebook, don't use social media,

I'm a new journalist, so that would be crippling in todays world...

and don't use anything but cash at stores.

I am considering going that route...

This will prevent a good chunk of tracking that goes on despite what you do on your devices.

Right.

My wife, just by using her Target Card, had advertisers track her pharmacy purchase to her Facebook account (with no action on her own) so that a sensitive pharmacy purchase was all over her Facebook page the next day. Target (and most other stores) sells purchase info to advertisers who link it to social media if you use a credit card or something similar.

That is why I started this thread as well: Facebook questions

Notice I was concerned about being forced to create a personal Facebook account so that I can then open up a Facebook page for my business.

It sounds like if I make up a pseudonym and just use my business email address, that I should be okay?

Or, maybe after listening to your wife's issues with Target, I should use a burner email address??

Summary:
Use a VPN, use DuckDuckGo as a search engine, use a good adblocker, avoid social media, and you should be way above average when it comes to tracking.

Thanks, and I knew all of this already.

But back to my OP and original concern...

I do NOT want AT&T or Apple to be able to know where I am at any given moment, nor do I want them to know what I was doing at any point in time at some location.

For example, TexasToast was in New Mexico at a fireworks show. Or, TexasToast was taking pictures outside of Chicago on Lake Michigan.


Will turning off WiFi and Blue tooth and being in Airplane Mode accomplish that? or do I also have to have my iPhone powered off at all times and/or take the SIM card out??

 

[C DM]

But back to my OP and original concern...

I do NOT want AT&T or Apple to be able to know where I am at any given moment, nor do I want them to know what I was doing at any point in time at some location.

For example, TexasToast was in New Mexico at a fireworks show. Or, TexasToast was taking pictures outside of Chicago on Lake Michigan.


Will turning off WiFi and Blue tooth and being in Airplane Mode accomplish that? or do I also have to have my iPhone powered off at all times and/or take the SIM card out??

Yes, that should do the trick. You might also want to look through privacy settings on the phone to set those up as you'd want, especially those related to location services.

That said, loosely speaking, turning the phone off completely (and even taking out the SIM card, and also the battery, if possible -- not in the case of iPhone) can be even more reassuring.

 

[Expos of 1969]

Yes, that should do the trick. You might also want to look through privacy settings on the phone to set those up as you'd want, especially those related to location services.

That said, loosely speaking, turning the phone off completely (and even taking out the SIM card, and also the battery, if possible -- not in the case of iPhone) can be even more reassuring.

Go down to a truck stop in Brownsville and discretely put the phone in the undercarriage of a truck heading down Mexico way and then go home. It will give the "tracking" guys at your carrier lots to monitor and you can then go to Staples and buy pads of paper, pens, envelopes and then get some stamps for your future "secure" communications

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Yes, that should do the trick. You might also want to look through privacy settings on the phone to set those up as you'd want, especially those related to location services.

That said, loosely speaking, turning the phone off completely (and even taking out the SIM card, and also the battery, if possible -- not in the case of iPhone) can be even more reassuring.

Taking out the SIM card probbaly wouldn't be a big deal, but if "Airplane Mode" wrks just the same, I might as well leave in my SIM card.

Yes, I have "Location Services" or whatever turned off, and with time, I hope to learn iOS front-and-back. But in the mean time, I just want to start off on the right foot.

Since I carry my iPhone with me everywhere, and I use it entirely as a mobile camera, if my location was tracked - combined with the tens of thousands of photos I shoot in a year - then that would be VERY damning as far as privacy goes?!

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Go down to a truck stop in Brownsville and discretely put the phone in the undercarriage of a truck heading down Mexico way and then go home. It will give the "tracking" guys at your carrier lots to monitor and you can then go to Staples and buy pads of paper, pens, envelopes and then get some stamps for your future "secure" communications

Ha ha... Funny guy!!