General

Re: Inexpensive cell phone/passport privacy tip

Clayton — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 02:08:02 GMT

What if you are expecting a phone call?

Well, you can't have your cake and eat it, too. If you want the phone to be off the grid for sure, then it's off the grid. If you want to be able to receive calls, then you have to have it on the grid. Someone needs to start selling phones with real, heavy-duty audio scrambling built-in (no, I'm not talking about the easily bypassed cellphone ciphers that exist today (A5/1, etc.) I'm sure it would violate every known wiretap law but who cares, the US gov't is just about reaching its apogee IMO... they claim to have the right to wiretap us anywhere, anytime but throw a hissy fit under "wiretap laws" if someone takes a cellphone video of one of their paid goons beating the crap out of someone for no good reason. The hypocrisy has reached the point where it's just so blatant that even the most devout, patriotic government-lover can't miss it.

Clayton -

Re: Inexpensive cell phone/passport privacy tip

DanielMuff — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 01:31:43 GMT

What if you are expecting a phone call?

Inexpensive cell phone/passport privacy tip

Clayton — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 01:18:18 GMT

Many devices these days are RF active and can permit criminals to track your movements or steal your identity. A cheap way to counteract this is with a static bag, commonly used for shielding sensitive electronic devices from accidental damage due to electrostatic discharge (ESD). You only need to drop your cellphone into one of these $10 bags and try to dial someone or receive a phone call to see that it blocks essentially all RF signals. The kind that zip closed like a ziploc bag are the best (sometimes called "faraday bags"). If you need to carry your phone with you but want to be absolutely sure your location and what you're saying remain private, just remove the phone's battery and drop the phone into one of these bags. It will shield your RFID-equipped passport, as well, which is nice since the government forces you to carry their insecure passports with you any time you want to travel across a border.

Clayton -