Ask Slashdot: How To Bypass Gov't Spying On Cellphones? 364
First time accepted submitter jarle.aase writes "It's doable today to use a mix of virtual machines, VPN, TOR, encryption (and staying away from certain places; like Google Plus, Facebook, and friends), in order to retain a reasonable degree of privacy. In recent days, even major mainstream on-line magazines have published such information. (Aftenposten, one of the largest newspapers in Norway, had an article yesterday about VPN, Tor and Freenet!) But what about the cell-phone? Technically it's not hard to design a phone that can switch off the GSM transmitter, and use VoIP for calls. VoIP could then go from the device through Wi-Fi and VPN. Some calls may be routed trough PSTN gateways — allowing the agencies to track the other party. But they will not track your location. And they will not track pure, encrypted VoIP calls that traverse trough VPN and use anonymous SIP or XMPP accounts. Android may not be the best software for such a device, as it very eagerly phones home. The same is true for iOS and Windows 8. Actually, I would prefer a non cloud-based mobile OS from a vendor that is not in the PRISM gallery. Does such a device exist yet? Something that runs a relatively safe OS, where GSM can be switched totally off? Something that will only make an outgoing network connection when I ask it to do so?" And in the absence of a perfect solution, what do you do instead? (It's still Android and using the cell network, but Red Phone — open sourced last year — seems like a good start.)
Re:Disposable cell phone (Score:5, Insightful)
Hell in the US they can't even keep non-insured non-licensed drivers off the road. Registering phones? Hah!
Re:Disposable cell phone (Score:5, Insightful)
Brian, I assume you paid in cash.
Do you know how much information the Staples inventory system has? Does it store things like the phone's Mobile Identification Number? It certainly logged the time the phone was sold and the location, perhaps flagging your cash transaction. Hopefully you smiled at the various cameras in-store and in the parking lot that recorded you driving up and buying the phone. ;-)
Not a god damned thing (Score:5, Insightful)
There is absolutely nothing you can do because the government has root for any given phone (if nothing else through a warrant). Own the network and you own anything going through it. Your encryption means jack when their are appliances that do nothing but decrypt and re-encrypt traffic at very high rates of speed. You could get a separate phone just for having private conversations (ala drug dealer). You would quickly find out that they can determine that number (doesn't matter how you got that phone). Once they know that number they can just tap that through the same phone system.
Want some level of privacy and to ensure that the government at least has to get a warrant to read your supposed to be private conversations? Go old school, visit this antique shop called a Post Office and buy a roll of stamps and envelopes. There is well established legal doctrine that says snooping on your mail can only be done with a warrant.
Don't like my answer? Call your congress critter and demand change.
Re:Being "spied" on, or drawing attention, choose. (Score:5, Insightful)
The trick is to hide in plain sight. Most of the time if you seem legit and do nothing obvious you're flying below the radar.
Re:what makes you worth tracking? (Score:5, Insightful)
"What makes you worth tracking?"
As the cost of this approaches $0, it's pretty easy to make tracking any given person's life worth more than it costs to do it.
Did Lindsay Mills think she was important? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Disposable cell phone (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes. The idea of a burn phone is a very old one now. If you think that the NSA doesn't have contingencies to deal with that, you are mistaken.
Honestly, unless you really do expect to be doing something illegal, the NSA doesn't have the resources to actually analyze the material they get from everyone for all possible illegal permutations. Unless you have reason to believe you are being targeted, the very fact that you use a burn phone regularly is probably more likely to set off red flags than just your normal use of a possibly monitored phone.
Think about it this way. The use of burn phones is an inconvenience that most people won't bother with. If you are willing to put up with that inconvenience, you are in a relatively small group of people who are either refusers, or people doing illegal stuff. If I were the NSA, I'd be more interested in you as an evader, rather than less. And if they do happen to be able to track burn phones, you've just promoted yourself from Potential Terrorist, Second Class to Potential Terrorist, First Class.
When it comes to panopticons, what you really need to do is learn how to hide in plain sight. The U.S. government is more like Sauron than God. They see everything, but only if they're looking at it.
Re:what makes you worth tracking? (Score:2, Insightful)
that's still aggregate data. they find out who bought a basket of goods and market to them based on the predictions of past purchases of previous of these items. they don't care what you personally buy, the computer looks at the aggregate purchasing history and automatically creates coupons based on research of what you are likely to buy
its all done by computer. not like there is some guy sitting around and checking out hot pics of your pregnant daughter.
50 years ago they would have blindly mailed out coupons to anyone 18-49 or pay money for a TV ad. 90% of it would have been ignored. 2013 they can better target the right coupons to people more likely to use them.
not like they are going to have a custom profile of you accessible to anyone on the internet so they can laugh at you and know everything about you
Re:Windows mobile 6.5 (Score:3, Insightful)
It sounds like you want a phone with
No, it sounds like he doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about at all.
Example:
" Technically it's not hard to design a phone that can switch off the GSM transmitter, and use VoIP for calls"
I've never seen a phone that wouldn't let you shut off the GSM transmitter, nobody needs to "design" this it's already there.
I can't speak for iPhones or Windows devices, but with Android you can shut off everything associated with cell phone carrier use any time you want, and install any kind of VOIP client you feel like using.
"Android may not be the best software for such a device, as it very eagerly phones home."
Bullshit. There's nothing in the Android OS which phones home or anywhere else. Yes, there are some applications which do it, but you can shut those off. And if you're extra paranoid just go install a custom ROM and don't run the spyware applications.
Re:Disposable cell phone (Score:5, Insightful)
they have an $80 billion per year budget. That's $255 for every Man woman and child living in this country. They certainly can track every single one of us. Especially considering the Majority of US Citizens aren't even old enough to use a phone or the internet yet.
Re:Flooding (Score:4, Insightful)
Wonderful idea, you and a few thousand buddies are all going to crapflood the NSA. The NSA, an organization that is arguably the best in the world at sorting noise from signal. Check your ego at the door and realize your an amateur pretending to play in the big leagues.
Want real change instead of feel good crap that doesn't do a damn thing? Call, or better yet, write your congress critter and demand change.
Re:Disposable cell phone (Score:3, Insightful)
pay some kid $20 to guy buy the burn phone/SIM for you. What kind of tradecraft master or wanna-be actually goes and buys their own burn phone?
Re:Disposable cell phone (Score:2, Insightful)
Cars don't require a connection to centralized infrastructure.