<h1>Phone Numbers are incompatible with Anonymity</h1>
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<h2><b>Sim Cards: the Deanonymization Tool</b></h2>
<p>A Simcard is what you need to put into your smartphone in order to have a phone number. These simcards, once inserted into your smartphone are always communicating their geographical position to the nearest mobile carrier antennas. <b>Meaning the mobile carriers knows where your simcard is, at all times</b>, and they know where this simcard has been ever since it got inserted into your phone.</p>
<p>Now, it is possible for you to purchase a sim card (or e-SIM) anonymously using for example this service <ahref="https://kycnot.me/service/silent.link">here</a>, but the fact remains the same, that once the simcard is active into your smartphone, <b>there is a permanent record of where that simcard has ever been</b> and there is nothing you can do about it. </p>
<p>Naturally, law enforcement agencies LOVE to keep their hands on this data. They use it all the time. For example, <b>all it takes for LE to figure out who has been in a public protest is to record the protesters up close, while keeping track of the current time.</b> Then, if any of the protesters did anything illegal out there, <b>they can know who did the act by simply looking at which simcards were at the exact same time, at the exact same place.</b></p>
<p>As we discussed <ahref="../governments/index.html">previously</a> for the law to be respected, it needs to be enforced. And to be enforced, the authorities need to know:</p>
<p>That's why protesters make the conscious choice to not go out to protest with their phones in their pockets, as they can get deanonymized very easily while wearing them. </p>
<p>Because Simcards are actively used by Law Enforcement to know what is the location of a particular phone number is <ahref="https://iv.nowhere.moe/embed/wzSgLpNrr2E">using tools like StingRay II</a>, but not only them, <b>every cellular provider also knows the location (up until present moment) of every phone number, <ahref="https://4n6.com/cell-phone-triangulation/">thanks to cellular triangulation</a>.</b></p>
<h2><b>You cannot have an anonymous Phone at home.</b></h2></br></br>
<p>Let's suppose the following scenario:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>You bought an old phone (let's say a google pixel) anonymously using Monero, without going on a Centralised marketplace, Peer to Peer.</p></li>
<li><p>You wiped that google pixel OS to install an open source host OS such as <ahref="https://grapheneos.org/">GrapheneOS</a></p></li>
<li><p>you made sure that phone never connected to the internet since you got it, and never used a simcard either.</p></li>
<li><p>You then purchase an e-SIM card anonymously from a non-KYC service such as silent.link, using monero, and you activate it inside the phone.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Great, you now think that you obtained an anonymous phone number right ? Did you just forget that <b>there is a permanent record of where that simcard and phone number is, at all times ?</b> And did you forget that this record of where your simcard is, is always consulted by LE at all times ?</p>
<p>Where do you plan to use that simcard ? At your own house ? <b>The moment that simcard (and phone number) becomes active, LE knows that the simcard associated with that phone number is located your own house.</b> And then you take it with you to go to work ? If you are seen going anywhere at anytime, and LE looks at where the simcard went, <b>they can easily correlate that you are the owner of that simcard.</b></p>
<p>So the only way to be able to use a phone number anonymously, is to use a remote service provider, that allows you to use a phone number, anonymously (allows tor connections, and monero payments), and even then, don't expect to get privacy going that route. Examples of such services: <ahref="https://kycnot.me/service/crypton">Crypton</a> or <ahref="https://kycnot.me/service/smspool">Smspool</a>. (see the full list <ahref="https://kycnot.me/?t=service&q=sms&xmr=on">here</a>)</p>
<h2><b>If a service requires your phone number, they are against your Anonymity</b></h2></br></br>
<p>If a chat service requires you to enter your phone number, it means they categorically refuse that you can use their service anonymously. Moreover, <b>it means that they want to be able to inform the authorities of your actions</b>, and rest assured that <b>LE will pay big money for that sensitive info they may have of your actions.</b></p>
<p>Yes, you heard me correctly. <b>If a service asks for your phone number, they are anti-anonymity by design</b>. This means that you can already stop using the following services:
Signal, is a centralised service that requires a phone number upon signup<ahref="https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-iOS/issues/194">[1]</a><ahref="https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/issues/1085">[2]</a>, see also <ahref="https://bencrypted.gitlab.io/post/8/">[3]</a><ahref="https://digital-justice.com/articles/skip-signal.html">[4]</a>
Telegram, is a centralised service that <ahref="https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/how-to-create-account-on-telegram/">also requires a phone number upon signup</a>, on top of being forced to comply to EU demands as of 2024.
<p>When you take into consideration how phone numbers harm your Anonymity as i listed above, <b>Nothing can can possibly justify requiring a phone number upon sign up.</b></p>
<p> The only reason for such a requirement, is that <b>the service takes bribes from LE, for successfully lying that their users are safe.</b> Make no mistake, the bigger the service, the more lucrative it is!</p>
<p>Now if you want to be able to communicate anonymously with someone online, use <ahref="https://simplex.chat">SimpleX</a>, and tell them to use it too with <ahref="../anonsimplex/index.html">this tutorial</a>.</p>
