[mattmaroon]

Does anyone imagine the government doesn’t already know who owns every phone number?

Also, couldn’t this system be optional, numbers that are ID-verified are somehow flagged so (assuming I choose) when one calls my phone knows to let it through and when an unverified number calls it doesn’t ring?

[2ndorderthought]

They know through indirect means. So they buy all the cellphone data specifically the gps location data in the us and funnel it through huge servers. So they can determine patterns, addresses, etc.

This makes that easier and doesn't risk any of the legality if their should be illegal data sources or other likely illegal activities.

Tldr: This is a way to defeat vpns.

[mattmaroon]

Yeah I strongly suspect this will allow them to use it in court considerably more frequently.

But still, I know they know who I am. Anyone with a cell phone in their pocket has no privacy. It’s the best tracking device ever.

Anyone who thinks anything at all can make that problem worse simply doesn’t understand that they have none.

I’d rather have zero privacy and zero spam calls than zero privacy and lots of spam calls. Obviously I’d prefer privacy and I think we need a constitutional amendment to that effect, but as far as showing our ID to eliminate spam in a world where zero privacy exists, sign me up.

[iamnothere]

> I’d rather have zero privacy and zero spam calls than zero privacy and lots of spam calls. Obviously I’d prefer privacy and I think we need a constitutional amendment to that effect, but as far as showing our ID to eliminate spam in a world where zero privacy exists, sign me up.

Thanks for demonstrating that the end goal of privacy doomerism is passive acceptance.

Whether this is your real opinion or you’re astroturfing, you are complicit, and we are judging you.

[mattmaroon]

Oh no, random people on the internet who don’t understand simple logic and can somehow take “we need a constitutional right to privacy” as not caring about privacy are judging me. Whatever shall I do?

If you’re worrying about a light rain while you’re drowning in the flood, that was the end goal and you fell for it. My life is materially impacted by spam calls, as a small business owner, it is far beyond an annoyance, so I’m going to enjoy the rainbow until I figure out what to do about the flood

[Cider9986]

We have a constitutional amendment–the 4th amendment. They ignore it.

You can have privacy on a phone using GrapheneOS.

[mattmaroon]

The 4th amendment has been interpreted by the courts to not be a broad right to privacy, and the overturning of Roe specifically stated this. Even if you think it should be interpreted as a broad right to privacy, it is clearly capable of being interpreted otherwise and is in no way adequate in today’s world.

You can only have SOME privacy on a phone with Graphene if you don’t really use the phone the way people use theirs most of the time. You’ve still got a SIM card talking to cell towers owned by a company who sells your information. You’re still presumably using apps and websites that require authentication. The government can still find where you were and what you were searching for unless you take extraordinary measures. That’s not privacy.

[Cider9986]

You're conflating 'complete anonymity from everybody' with 'privacy.' GrapheneOS doesn't claim to be anonymous.

They're not the same thing. GrapheneOS reduces what apps, the OS, and Google can collect about you. That's where the vast majority of privacy issues occur.

Cell tower metadata is a separate, narrower issue at the baseband layer, and it's addressable if you care to. 'It's not privacy unless it defeats every adversary at once' is a standard nothing meets. If you took that standard to dismiss real improvements you'd never use any privacy tool.

Is it that crazy that a cell network can know where you are? Of course it knows where you are—you couldn't connect to it without being in range.

Also, we don't have to hold phones to a higher standard than computers. It is your choice to use them with a Sim card, just like it is your choice to use a hotspot for your computer.

Authentication is not dependant on the phone and is the exact same no matter what device you are using. Saying that "using apps and websites that require authentication" makes your phone not have privacy is ridiculous. You can remove privacy from any device by streaming it's screen to youtube. GrapheneOS is private by default, and let's you make it less private.

ps you should blog again, even if it was very cynical from what I can find ;) (https://archive.is/Xx7uR)

[mattmaroon]

We were specifically discussing privacy from government as that’s what the original post is about. The FCC making cell providers check IDs like a bank will have no privacy ramifications in any other regard. My provider knows who I am, gives my government any info they want (probably all of it without even having to be asked, possibly without their knowledge), and sells it “anonymized” to all sorts of people. Graphene won’t help with any of that. I’m sure it is wonderful in other ways, but they’re just not ones that rank on my list of concerns.

And you’re right I should.

[kyleee]

To some extent; if they were motivated they could still correlate things and figure out exactly who you are and your movement history, etc

[pseudalopex]

Most spam calls start outside your country or are legal.