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Google is silently linking phone numbers across accounts — the privacy risks and how to stop them (www.androidauthority.com)
submitted 5 days ago by to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
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One number, zero privacy?

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[–] 2 points 3 days ago (11 children)

so far I've been able to get around that with the method Michael Bazzell describes in his book:

  1. buy a prepaid card, this comes with a carrier phone number (cash, in store if possible)

  2. transfer the prepaid number to a VOIP service

  3. the number, having been created for carrier service, does not fall into the VOIP generated set, meaning (so far, anyway) MFA and other services requiring a 'real' number do not turn this away, even if it is currently a VOIP number.

repeat/rotate as necessary

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  • [–] 2 points 3 days ago (2 children)

    Brilliant. What provider do you recommend for VoIP? And how much does it cost?

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  • [–] 1 point 2 days ago (1 child)

    I don't recommend any, to be honest. the ones I've tried all have quirks that make them annoying to use, so unfortunately I haven't settled on one I can recommend. that said, $5 USD per number per month is very much the high end you should expect, you can get decent results for much cheaper.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 days ago (4 children)

    I'm not sure this is much different in the end... they have a different number linking all your accounts, but they're still all associated with one person... you. I don't see how it matters if it's a cell or voip #.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 days ago

    for me the primary motivator is to stay off of cell to avoid cell tower triangulation. the service I use right now actually doesn't even need a 'host' cell number. also, newer phones have multiple eSIM slots that you can rotate easily with the method I describe above, allowing you to further containerize your personas.

    its different depending on what you're trying to accomplish. if you're trying to hide from the government, good luck. if you're trying to make it so Walmart and Amazon have no shared information on you, that's very achievable

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  • [–] 1 point 3 days ago (2 children)

    It is difference. Sim cards can push arbitrary remote code execution to your device from towers.

    That gap makes a huge difference

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  • [–] 1 point 3 days ago (1 child)

    I'm replying to you because you sound like you know a lot about it. I have Google Fi service with an "eSim". It can't possibly be true that a Sim card is better than an eSim, can it? An eSim is total vapor. I have to beg Google Fi to turn it in or transfer it. At least a Sim can be transferred manually. So if Sim is no bueno, and an eSim is no bueno, then what, pray tell, is the 3rd option here? Is there some much better option that busy "normies" can choose?

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  • [–] 1 point 3 days ago (1 child)

    How long does said number last/stay valid? This is all fascinating as I'd never heard nor read of this before. Would you be willing to go into more detail, like naming such VOIP services, etc.?

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  • [–] 1 point 2 days ago

    I've been doing this for about a year now and have run into no issues with the numbers I transfer from carriers. more and more the pure VOIP numbers are not working.

    I won't go into recommending any, for reasons I describe in another comment in this thread. I will however not recommend VoIP.ms, they wanted me to do a facial scan and when I refused completely blocked access to my account with no appeal.

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