We are finding it more and more difficult to NOT use a Google or Facebook account. Both to advertise an item for sale or to have someone reference a link we need to use on Facebook.
Note: we do not have Social media accounts and have successfully de-Googled.
Is a potential solution to get a burner phone and one of those “add minutes as you need them”?
If so, any advice on how to do this or other suggestions?
Edit: Added US as location
I had the same issue when I wanted to sell my things before my international move. I recommend finding the right place on reddit to ask where other than social media you can list things.
There are always websites outside of Facebook that exist unless where you live is strictly only Facebook. Right now, as far as I know, they are asking for ID to verify yourself to even make an account.
So, those are my thoughts on it.
Are you in the US? Not knowing what item you are wanting to sell, often I’m just opting to donate my things or list on a BuyNothing app. I do keep Reddit and buy and sell on there some.
Also eBay may be an option depending on location? eBay, Craigslist, Swappa, etc. in the US. If you’re outside the US, maybe you can search alternatives to these.
But I just recently moved and was basically peer-pressured into using Facebook Marketplace “because there’s so many good deals!” So I feel it.
We are in the US.
Wow, even getting a burner phone and “pay for minutes” account won’t work for privacy…. I was sure hoping.
You don’t need a burner phone for Google or Facebook, you can just open a new Google account and use it for Facebook.
you may be able to just use data only esims or prepaid card.
in my country prepaid would have been impossible because of KYC Mandate on them.
Also to get this straight, this is a local business or personal? What about other options other than Facebook Marketplace
We spent a lot of time and energy “de-Googling” our lives. New phone number, email, etc.
A Google account requires a registration with cell phone number. They will not accept an SMS phone number (as far as we can find out anyway).
That is why we were asking if a burner phone with a “pay by the minute card” would work.
It is just personal selling of a large mobility device, so shipping is out of the question.
Surprisingly, Offerup and Craigslist now require cell phone numbers and personal data to even create an account. Facebook Market place requires that same type of info.
We “de-Googled” our lives but have now found a requirement to sell a large mobility device locally and have run into this interesting privacy conflict.
That is why we were hoping getting a simple burner phone and a pay-by-the-minute plan might work?
We don’t know how to even start using an esim or prepaid card using our current iPhone device?
I would probably just use a virtual number like jmp.chat. You can check whether signups work for various services and add your own experiences here:
If you end up using something like Facebook Marketplace and want to compartmentalize it, I would look into buying an older used pixel and flashing GrapheneOS for that since you can’t have multiple profiles with your current iOS devices. These types of services tend to think you’re less suspicious if you use their app and won’t ask for as much personal info.
I will say from personal experience that despite what people say I haven’t have much better luck selling with Facebook marketplace than just using craigslist on its own at least in my area, though it will expand your audience a fair bit. I got a lot of people on FB sending me messages but a lot of low balls and flakes. Not worth it to me given the privacy invasions, I’d rather just be patient and wait. When I eventually get an offer on craigslist it’s been reasonable and legit. But YMMV.
As for opening links in Facebook that can’t really be done privately. If you must, just compartmentalize as much as possible to limit the data they can get.
Thank you for this reply. This is what I was looking for.
If I need to go to the pixel phone, what type of cell service do I use? I am assuming that I just pick up one of those “pay-by-minute” phone cards I see at the store?
Just to be clear, using GrapheneOS could still be advantageous even if you don’t find you need to use a real, non-virtual phone number because it would allow you to use the official apps for these services while compartmentalizing them. It may also eliminate the need for a phone number in the first place because in my experience Google does not require a phone number if you create an account using the google play store app and Facebook does not require ID if you use the official Facebook app, to name a couple examples.
I haven’t had the need for a real non-virtual number in a while, but I’ve seen mint mobile recommended for this in the US because they don’t require a lot of personal information. There are also lots of online providers that sell esims with real phone numbers and allow you to pay with private payment methods like monero and use fake info. Some examples are silent.link and NXTL. Again though I haven’t used a real phone number in quite some time so I can’t speak from personal experience.
Excellent! Thank you. I am starting to understand. Pixel with GrapheneOS utilizing apps.
A Google account requires a registration with cell phone number. They will not accept an SMS phone number (as far as we can find out anyway).
Unless things have changed recently (or vary by country, etc), this isn’t true. I distinctly remember creating multiple phantom accounts (GMail) without providing a phone number.
I just tried again and around step 3 of creating a Google account, it asks me to scan a QR code with my phone. Although there is a disclaimer that states it won’t use my cell phone information, we all have watched Google getting caught violating these statements.
I have had good luck with Tello (T-Mobile MVNO) on a GOS device.
Sorry, “Have had good experience* with Tello” or “Have good experience with Tello (lately)”?
Well, to be fair it was over a year ago when I signed up. At that point at least I was able to sign up without having to use any real PII and a privacy.com card.
Sometimes the coverage is better than Verizon in rural areas for me. (USA)
For me it works well and affordable, but I’m mostly using data versus voice calls or SMS. (I have read some have issue with T Mobile carriers and RCS messaging on GOS).
I appreciate your reply!
This is the first time I’m seen privacy.com
How does it help users maintain their privacy?