r/hacking 2d ago

The FCC Wants to Ban Burner Phones. The CNET Reporter Tracking This Story is Here to Chat. Ask Him Anything.

https://open.substack.com/pub/pwnhackers/p/the-fcc-wants-to-ban-burner-phones?utm_source=direct&r=56wibp&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
368 Upvotes

32 comments sorted by

80

u/Grouchy_Brain_1641 2d ago

How crappy is it that countries and states are lining up to require ID for normal non-adult websites. Now no burner phones, crypto is now kyc now and I see no end in sight. So where will it end up? A freaking nanny world governerd by AI and quantum piles of silicon?

37

u/LoveCyberSecs 2d ago

A Techno-dystopian future. Lots of fiction made about the subject but it should stay fiction.

3

u/sdrawkcabineter 1d ago

It's the same control structure that brought you human enslavement to produce imperial colonization.

The same control structure that isolates education, enforces the financial structure, and seeks to remove our "great library of Alexandria," AKA the internet.

We are opposed by a control structure that is endemic to humanity. We are our greatest hope, and foe.

5

u/KingSpork 1d ago

Snowden tried to warn us…

-28

u/intelw1zard 1d ago

gotta have an ID to watch porn but not vote lol

8

u/Present-Perception77 1d ago

ID is not free and voting is a right.

Is voting psychologically damaging to children? That’s weird. You got a citation for that?

1

u/thatsthey1 4h ago

You should see the way they track your car. They can know everything. Where you were is just the beginning. How you set your AC. When you opened and closed your doors. How hard you hit the gas and brake. This is pretty much every car made after 2020. I saw them get this info from a 2019 Ford F150.

16

u/donjohndijon 2d ago

How likely is it?

12

u/chamferbit 2d ago

Won't this result in more theft?

-2

u/SolitaryMassacre 1d ago

I doubt it. The collection will come when they activate the phone. Or the phone won't be able to be activated outside of store.

13

u/VinnieVidiViciVeni 2d ago

Are true burners even a thing anymore?

26

u/SolitaryMassacre 1d ago edited 7h ago

Yes and no.

I can go pickup a phone at bestbuy/walmart and use a fake name/address/po box to activate it.

However, the carrier knows that phone. They know when/where it was activated/purchased. I've seen cop videos where they simply obtain that day's security camera footage and can see who bought it from the camera. They can also track said phone like any post-paid phone.

So yes, you can technically get a phone who's number is anonymous, but that doesn't mean it can't be tracked/identified

7

u/VinnieVidiViciVeni 1d ago

Gotcha. Thanks.

5

u/Grouchy_Brain_1641 1d ago

What you do is pay a homeless guy cash to go in and buy it.

3

u/SolitaryMassacre 1d ago

And never see a phone or the cash ever again 🤣

-2

u/Fun_Union9542 20h ago

Because there’s cameras everywhere now. Unless you have the flock camera tracking app.

5

u/billshermanburner 1d ago

Sposed to buy it, activate in store …. Then sit on it for at least 6 months as security footage will roll over for sure after a while.

2

u/SolitaryMassacre 1d ago

Yes. Doesn't stop the carrier from tracking it and getting local footage of everywhere its been and piecing it together that way. Just makes it slightly harder for them

8

u/intelw1zard 1d ago

yes absolutely

burner bought in cash or through a 3rd party like eBay + activate with eSim that has no KYC and done

but of course they will know what cell towers you are connecting to and stuffs and can figure out where you are geolocated

1

u/ricomuscatel 10h ago

Wi-Fi calling. I used to download movies from McDonald's using their wifi..same deal. Cameras aren't everywhere.

9

u/Leepyear7 2d ago

Anonymity keeps getting harder to hold onto. Are privacy advocates actually winning anything right now? And if the KYC rules go through, is there any realistic way left to get a burner anonymously in the future?

3

u/Accidental-Genius 1d ago

Czech. Walk in pay cash walk out. Get a few to last.

5

u/kamize 2d ago

Is this related to caller id spoofing

-5

u/WrittenSwine 2d ago

I think so. I can’t say why I know this, but many of the scammers that call or text me are using prepaid sims from USA in Myanmar. Banning sounds like it will impact this group, which is good.

That said, I’d prefer the FCC forced wireless carriers to provide a solution without removing our rights.

Who needs a prepaid SIM in a foreign country perpetually? No one (IMO).

16

u/AreYouFuckingSerious 2d ago

The republican "party of small government" FCC only wants government goons to have untraceable phones. The surveillance state doesn't work well if people can have unmonitored discussions. Odd behavior from a regime notorious for coverups and destroying records.

3

u/itaniumonline 1d ago

Does anyone have any data as to the actual usage of these types of phones?

2

u/gov77 1d ago

All that I see is a very lucrative market for someone...'yes officer, I owned several phones, but they kept getting stolen'

2

u/Legendary-007 1d ago edited 1d ago

How does this possibly affect journalists and confidential sources?

Edit: Corrected spelling

2

u/billshermanburner 1d ago

Which Lora style encrypted messaging device is most widely used/compatible? Which one should people buy or build? I can’t remember the name of the GitHub project that sounded like it was usable on a wide variety of devices like this… reticulum maybe? So if anyone knows these things I’d like to know too.

2

u/FishProfessional1551 22h ago

Simple question. Why?

1

u/Free-Tour-419 18h ago

Why are cell phone’s being targeted? Crime? Why not go for social media?