Are Burner Phone apps traceable in any way? Recomendations?
December 14, 2019 10:18 AM Subscribe
I'm looking to get a burner phone or app but want to make sure its secure and not traceable.
I would like to know if the IOS apps are secure or if a whole other phone would be better.
Have you any recommendations?
I'm looking to get a burner phone or app but want to make sure its secure and not traceable.
I would like to know if the IOS apps are secure or if a whole other phone would be better.
Have you any recommendations?
I'm looking to get a burner phone or app but want to make sure its secure and not traceable.
I would like to know if the IOS apps are secure or if a whole other phone would be better.
Have you any recommendations?
I'd definitely agree that a new physical device is better than an app on a phone you use for other purposes. I don't have a lot of knowledge in this area specifically, however.
posted by Alensin at 11:01 AM on December 14, 2019
posted by Alensin at 11:01 AM on December 14, 2019
For your own peace of mind get a separate device. There are too many things that can go wrong (including user error) if you try to double up.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:49 AM on December 14, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:49 AM on December 14, 2019 [1 favorite]
The concept behind a "burner" is that you can use it briefly and get rid of it, i.e. "burn" it.
posted by uncaken at 12:09 PM on December 14, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by uncaken at 12:09 PM on December 14, 2019 [4 favorites]
"Secure and not traceable" by who is a pretty important question. Are we talking about compartmentalizing your dating life or avoiding the gaze of state actors while you do something they'd find objectionable?
In any case, if phone calls and text messages are enough I'd pay cash somewhere on the far side of town for the dumbest dumbphone you can find with a removable battery. Pop the battery out when you're not using it, and don't use it when you're within a mile or of anywhere you hang out regularly; home, friends, relatives, work, whatever.
Depending on what your threat model is and how serious you are about dealing with it, also consider leaving your own phone at home when you make the purchase, and keeping your personal non-burner phone turned off when you're going some distance out of your usual way to use the burner, so the locations of the two can't be correlated. Your in-phone location services stuff doesn't matter here, this is all cell-tower-side.
When you purchase it, you might also consider consider waiting a few weeks after buying it for the security footage on those premises to have a chance to rotate out. It used to be that convenience stores rotated security footage out after a month, but these days drive space is so cheap nobody throws out data if they don't have to.
Smartphones make all this much harder.
posted by mhoye at 12:26 PM on December 14, 2019 [13 favorites]
In any case, if phone calls and text messages are enough I'd pay cash somewhere on the far side of town for the dumbest dumbphone you can find with a removable battery. Pop the battery out when you're not using it, and don't use it when you're within a mile or of anywhere you hang out regularly; home, friends, relatives, work, whatever.
Depending on what your threat model is and how serious you are about dealing with it, also consider leaving your own phone at home when you make the purchase, and keeping your personal non-burner phone turned off when you're going some distance out of your usual way to use the burner, so the locations of the two can't be correlated. Your in-phone location services stuff doesn't matter here, this is all cell-tower-side.
When you purchase it, you might also consider consider waiting a few weeks after buying it for the security footage on those premises to have a chance to rotate out. It used to be that convenience stores rotated security footage out after a month, but these days drive space is so cheap nobody throws out data if they don't have to.
Smartphones make all this much harder.
posted by mhoye at 12:26 PM on December 14, 2019 [13 favorites]
mhoye's reply is a great primer on the sort of contortions you'd have to go through to achieve a minimum of privacy. And you'd probably accidentally screw it up somehow.
Mobile phones are surveillance devices, smartphones much more so.
posted by Bangaioh at 12:38 PM on December 14, 2019 [5 favorites]
Mobile phones are surveillance devices, smartphones much more so.
posted by Bangaioh at 12:38 PM on December 14, 2019 [5 favorites]
Yeah, as everyone else has said: Who exactly is the adversary here? Because the appropriate advice varies enormously depending on who it is.
posted by pharm at 2:04 PM on December 14, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by pharm at 2:04 PM on December 14, 2019 [1 favorite]
Another question that I don't see answered here is: where are you? A foreigner buying a SIM card in Singapore needs to turn over their passport to get one. If you're doing business in China you're probably going to be seeing a lot of familiar faces for a few days until you buy a SIM card or cellphone from a local provider. In the UK they're a lot more low-key about it and you can just buy your local SIM with a credit card which, it turns out, is plenty.
Just so this is 100% clear, there's no such thing as a "burner app". That is not a real thing that exists, and anything claiming to be that is lying to you.
posted by mhoye at 6:46 PM on December 14, 2019 [2 favorites]
Just so this is 100% clear, there's no such thing as a "burner app". That is not a real thing that exists, and anything claiming to be that is lying to you.
posted by mhoye at 6:46 PM on December 14, 2019 [2 favorites]
Something that doesn't have any apps with location services
This article illustrates how law enforcement leverages location service data:
Feds reap data from 1,500 phones in largest reported reverse-location warrantposted by XMLicious at 7:30 PM on December 14, 2019
There's no need to remove batteries, just get a couple of RFID shielding bags to keep the burner phone in when you are not making or expecting a call with it.
Shield your regular phone a few minutes before taking the burner out of its bag, so that The Man never detects both phones at the same time and location.
posted by monotreme at 1:25 PM on December 15, 2019
Shield your regular phone a few minutes before taking the burner out of its bag, so that The Man never detects both phones at the same time and location.
posted by monotreme at 1:25 PM on December 15, 2019
Are you trying not to be TRACKED or IDENTIFIED? There is no way to use technology and not be tracked. I'm thinking you just dont want to have anyone find out you are who you are vs. You are where you are doing what you're not supposed to be.
posted by The_imp_inimpossible at 10:42 PM on December 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by The_imp_inimpossible at 10:42 PM on December 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
So if you're looking to use a "burner" app to, say, give out a number for Web forms or via a dating app or avoid marketing... I'd look for reviews of those type of apps and consider a well-reviewed one sufficient. Obviously I'd avoid any app that doesn't allow anonymous signup.
If you're trying to have a secure and non-traceable phone from law enforcement, I would not suggest using anything on your smart phone. If you must do whatever it is that you're wanting to do that you feel a burner to protect against law enforcement is necessary, I'd suggest a dumb phone -- the dumber the better. Something that doesn't have any apps with location services, and obviously something that you can buy minutes with cash and top off or replace when it's out of credits or whatever.
Of course there's still location data associated with using a cell phone, and if you have a burner phone and your smart phone accessing cell towers and giving off location data, it's possible law enforcement could get that as evidence and use it. Get a burner that you can take the battery out, turn it off when not in use, never call your own number, and ideally never keep the two phones in the same location powered on at the same time. See the EFF's guide to attending a protest for some tips.
posted by jzb at 10:36 AM on December 14, 2019 [11 favorites]