Hi I’m a Journalist and recently travelled to a sensitive country. When I arrived I was stopped and the authorities made me open my phone and took a photo of my IMEI number. It’s never ever happened before and now I feel very insecure about my phone. Obviously I have sensitive information and conta…

[image] r3m8: IMEI, the use lies mainly in tracking through cellular networks to identify your position relatively precisely [image] Gman: If I buy a pixel and put grapheneOS on it can the authorities still track me with a compromised imei number If they know the IMEI is connected to y…

[image] dngray: The only way to prevent phone tracking whilst in a country like that is a RFID shielded/Faraday container. That of course will prevent any signals being received or sent from the device. I think it would be risky as it is apparent that the authority think OP is kind of POI and…

[image] TinFoilHat: If OP’s device disappeared from the grid, it is likely to trigger escalation. That is always a possibility, if you paid some cash at some store inside the country that locals use then that might be a problem. I wouldn’t do it with a device they know the IMEI of that has be…

Yeah, with current global trends, travelling abroad really needs proper planning. It is very unfortunate and I feel sorry for what OP is going through.

Where can I find the thread about charging imei numbers pls ?

[image] Pixel (Tensor chip) IMEI modification guide General This guide covers Pixel 6, 6 Pro, 6a, 7, 7 Pro, 7a, Fold, 8, 8 Pro, 8a, 9, 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL, 9 Pro Fold, 9a For context and prior discussions, please see: https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/is-posting-about-imei…

[image] dngray: The only way to prevent phone tracking whilst in a country like that is a RFID shielded/Faraday container. Or airplane mode.

Thank you for the reply, I’m just interested in reading the thread.

Depending on what device you use, it might or might not work. Also faraday bag requires testing before putting it into use, as not faraday bag performs the same when it comes to different spectrum. However testing the effectiveness of a faraday bag is not exactly easy.

[image] TinFoilHat: it might or might not work. Source? Has there been a known airplane-mode vulnerability in modern Android/iOS?

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TinFoilHat May 22, 2025, 1:52pm 11

I have to remind you again, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU FULLY UNDERSTAND THE POTENTIAL LEGAL RISKS AND OTHER ISSUES BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO CHANGE THE IMEI.

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