It looks like what's actually happening is they're looking at usage data related to how many people are connected to the tower. I can see why one might think that's different, since you must connect to a tower to use your cell phone, and the data isn't personal usage data like a site might be. It's more along the lines of usage data, like how many people ride the bus, which is data that's shared all the time without explicit permission from every rider first.
Last I checked, the large carriers in the states hoard this information for years.
The part that really is optional is where the carrier then stores and even sells your location. They are mandated by law with respect to the first and they abuse the technical capabilities of the system for the second. And even if it isn't very precise for a single measurement it is in fact quite precise after you haven't moved for a while.
1. Go outside
2. Break the phone in half
3. Toss it in the nearest garbage can
4. Walk away
* does anyone know if this is still true?
Burners / prepaid SIM's are still a thing.
Not any more. 5G changes this now that the location spying is baked into the cell tech itself. The base stations are literally steering the beam to follow you in order to achieve such high bandwidth. See “5G NR Positioning Enhancements in 3GPP Release-18” (2024): https://arxiv.org/html/2401.17594v1
“New radio (NR) positioning in the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 18 (Rel-18) enables 5G-advanced networks to achieve ultra-high accuracy positioning without dependence on global navigation satellite systems (GNSS)”
“Release 18 (Rel-18) NR pushes the boundaries even further, unlocking the potential for applications in 5G-Advanced networks that demand ultra-high positioning accuracy – down to centimeter-level (cm-level)” (emphasis mine)
With the idea being that I use a second phone to connect to my main phone over the internet.
This lets the phone number you actually have associated with you stay in the same fixed geographical location.
E.g. all calls are initiated by the primary phone and tunnelled over the internet to the disposable phone.
ATT - https://www.att.com/consent/ccpa/dnsatt
T-Mobile: https://www.t-mobile.com/privacy-center --Access the Privacy Dashboard
Adjust the following privacy settings (toggle off as desired), per line/account: - Profiling and automated decisions (on by default) - Fraud and identity theft protection (shares account and usage info) - Sharing certain financial information (payment history, balances, etc.) - Analytics and reporting, Advertising options, and Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
Verizon - Go to your MyVerizon Navigate to Account > Account Settings > Privacy Settings on the web; or tap the gear icon and choose Manage privacy settings in the app.
Locate the following tracking options: - Custom Experience - Custom Experience Plus - Business & Marketing Insights - CPNI (Customer Proprietary Network Information) and Identity Verification programs -For each, select "Don't Use" or toggle off to opt out
This one was seemingly a new one, and makes the hairs on my neck go up:
Make your choice about profiling and automated decisions.
You can tell us not to use your personal data for certain kinds of "profiling" that we might do in the future. This toggle allows you to opt out of having profiling used for future decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you. We don't use profiling to make these kinds of decisions now. Turning this "OFF" or gray means "opt out of profiling and automated decisions."
e: I thought I had opted out of everything that was opt-out-able in TMo's privacy settings <https://www.t-mobile.com/privacy-center/dashboard/controls> years ago when I first set up my line/account, but I just checked again and more than half of the settings were enabled. Hate that I have to be in the habit of looking for new settings that default to enabled.
FCC, whether intentional or unintentional, through their controlled access to wireless spectrum has made it near impossible for smaller players to disrupt them.
I know "MVNOs" exist but they just resell the spectrum/network from the big 3 carriers in the USA.
ch33zer•1h ago
TimorousBestie•1h ago