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Comment by pdkl95 | Hacker News Reader

> by having it run on a disconnected network

This is only a temporary solution to the problem of devices phoning home against your wishes (or knowledge). The "system-on-a-chip" CPUs used in embedded ("smart") devices with an integrated cellular (LTE/etc) modem have existed for years[1]. The hardware that can simply bypass your local network and phone home over the cellular network already exists. The people that want to spy on everyone for profit will no longer ask for internet access through your LAN when someone finally negotiates with the carriers for some sort of low-priority/off-peak access they can use to batch-upload their eavesdropping ("analytics").

[1] random example from "Q4 3014" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exynos#List_of_ARMv8_Exynos_So...

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> when someone finally negotiates with the carriers for some sort of low-priority/off-peak access they can use to batch-upload their eavesdropping ("analytics").

I can happily confirm that Canada’s telecom oligopoly will never allow such a thing to happen.

Discounts for off-peak cellular data? Bwahahahahahaha

> The hardware that can simply bypass your local network and phone home over the cellular network already exists.

Wouldn't such a thing require an antenna that you could remove or disable to function?

Speaking of... is there a more effective way to disable a cellular modem than removing its antenna? Like some kind of component that you could replace the antenna with that would mitigate any residual antenna-function of the remaining wiring? I want to do this to the modem on my car.

> is there a more effective way to disable a cellular modem than removing its antenna?

Wrap it in aluminum foil as a Faraday cage?

> Wrap it in aluminum foil as a Faraday cage?

That's not a practical solution for a car.

Basically, the problem is the car's electronics have a cellular modem component, but I want everything besides that to continue to function and receive other radio signals. I can disconnect the antenna plug, but my understanding is that will just make the reception worse but not eliminate it.

I'm wondering if there's something simple and safe that would basically act as an anti-antenna, and absorb or interfere with any signals the rest of the electronics manage to pick up or transmit. I don't know much about electronics, but I was thinking maybe some kind of passive component, like a capacitor or resistor, might be able to soak up any residual signal.

Just strategizing: a wired in jammer should work.

Or a micro-wireless jammer that’s so weak, it wouldn’t even disrupt anything outside of what it’s built into.

Even if you can’t block the outgoing signal, you’ll disrupt the incoming signal and prevent any kind of handshake from happening.

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