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Comment by rollcat | Hacker News Reader

If this is a legitimate concern to you, you should consider not carrying a phone. I know it sounds crazy, but I remember the times before everyone and their dog had a mobile phone - we somehow survived. Even if there's nobody out there to get you, it's very refreshing and calming to disconnect.

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That would help me individually, but will do nothing to address my concern about society becoming a panopticon, and the proliferation of laws that make it illegal to attempt to evade surveillance:

For example, in the United Kingdom, under the Mobile Telephones (Re-programming) Act, changing the IMEI of a phone, or possessing equipment that can change it, is considered an offence under some circumstances. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mobile_Equipment...

You also can't just change or hide your car's registration plates - it's also illegal. I 100% agree with your concern, but there's always a line to draw.

Sorry for the car analogy, I had to ;)

> possessing equipment that can change it,

On most pixel phones, the "equipment" is any computer with a usb cable and a copy of android SDK (adb). Better arrest every owner of said equipment...

You should carry your phone, GPS on, with you everywhere all the time. The only exception should be when you need to go out and do something that will be frowned on by the powers that be. In those instances you should leave the phone at home playing a long YouTube video. If you are ever questioned about your whereabouts during that time your phone will supply a good (increasingly bordering on perfect) alibi.

This is exactly it. I had a friend who attended protests regularly. On protest day, they’d come into work, sign into their computer, set their phone on their desk, and then take the bus to the protest paying cash.

> This is exactly it.

No, it's not. If only people who require protection will try to have privacy, it will be very easy to target them. Everyone should have privacy to protect them. See also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31695383.

Mouse/accelerometer jiggler?

Nothing all that unusual about setting your phone down, propped up to watch something on it.

Tape it over your washing machine and run a cycle.

Must be really easy to distinguish with the modern machine learning.

You mean a phone sends accelerometer data to CIA all day round?

Mobile phone radio basebands have been repeatedly compromised by multiple actors, including non-state.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26639261

> I remember the times before everyone and their dog had a mobile phone - we somehow survived

We survived because lots of services and relationships didn't rely on people having a mobile phone.

Or just use a phone with a hardware kill switch (Librem 5 or Pinephone), so you can have access to the camera and emergency calls, when needed.

Librem is a sad joke[1] when it comes to actual hardware security, so no, thank you. I don't know what's the situation with Pinephone, but I'd rather use a device vetted by people who understand hardware security better than me (e.g. an iPhone, or anything targeted by GrapheneOS). If I ever find myself needing a physical kill switch, all I need is to wrap it in aluminium foil. The rest of the chocolate bar is a nice bonus.

[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30761886

Note: IIUC, on the Pinephone you have to open up the phone to get access to the switches. On the Librem5, the switches are external; i.e. accessible from the outside.

You know this works for literally EVERY concern about privacy for ANY technology?

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