Will it be allowed to post a method/tool to permanently change IMEI and other data such as MAC/SN/SKU on all Tensor devices? Mainly a question to the mods.
Only requires a rooted device for the initial process, and then the bootloader can be locked again and the device can be wiped with stock/GrapheneOS. Verified on Pixels 6 up until 9.
3 Likes
I’ve heard of this being possible, would be nice to finally see the method!
1 Like
@jonah ping
I don’t really have an answer whether it’s ok to post it here but changing the IMEI is a criminal offense in certain countries.
Plus the network operators will not take kindly to (potentially) the same IMEI logging in twice from different locations.
Also there is the (small) risk that you accidentally choose an IMEI that is associated with a crime of some sorts.
1 Like
I see it sort of like call recording: it’s illegal in certain places but it’s very jurisdiction dependent. So I’d say it’s alright, and it’s up to everyone individually to check their local laws. Is it something we’d ever recommend? Probably not.
5 Likes
There is nothing inherently illegal about changing your IMEI even if some jurisdictions forbid it. We recommend VPN’s despite them being illegal in plenty of places so I really don’t see the issue simply discussing changing the IMEI on this forum. Obviously it’s not up to me though.
Changing your IMEI is a really ineffective way to achieve privacy from the cellular network so it’s not something I would recommend even if you are able to.
4 Likes
That cannot happen by the GSMA standards. Only 1 unique IMEI can be registered on a network at any given time.
You can, however have the same IMEI dissapear from the network and come back on a remote location away from the previous, that happens when your battery dies and you move away, and it’s a common thing.
Well yeah, if you play stupid games you can win stupid prizes 
But what are the odds of doing it at random?
A “correct” and ethical way to do it would be setting it only for values of devices you own,
or should I say, can ensure that have a somewhat clean background.
I would definitely argue with that statement.
If you buy eSIMs frequently, which can be bought easily on many places with crypto, and roam with them at the location you intend to be in, the IMEI is the only identifier the cellular network can attribute and tie you with. They don’t control the IMSI, they can’t know who the customer is since they are not the ones who provisioned the SIM to you, and if you got an eSIM without KYC (which you should do anyway), the IMEI is the only identifier that stays permanent when you swap eSIMs.
So it’s not about privacy, it’s about anonymity. If you want privacy, you add a VPN on top of that data roaming plan, which is out of scope of our discussion.
Hello, long-time lurker here. I wanted to share why a solution like this would be useful for my situation.
Recently, my country passed a law that imposes a 40% tax on phones brought into the country, even for personal use. This applies even if you have the phone on your person when entering the country, such as if you bought it while on vacation.
It’s worth noting that my country does not manufacture phones locally. This law seems designed to encourage people to buy phones domestically, where prices are already extremely high compared to having a friend purchase one for you while traveling.
Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but it’s interesting that this law was enacted shortly after the president’s cousin acquired the company that imports Apple products into the country. Just a coincidence, I know.
Currently, I have an old Pixel phone running GrapheneOS. Pixels are not available in my country, and I bought this phone from Amazon US years ago. It’s now an end-of-life device, and I’ve been wanting to replace it. However, the 40% tax on whatever the government deems my phone is worth has prevented me from doing so. Even if I have an invoice showing I bought the phone for $1, they disregard it and tax based on their valuation.
My plan is to buy a new phone, change the new phone’s IMEI to match my old Pixel’s IMEI, and leave my old Pixel disconnected from the carrier.
P.S. If you don’t pay the tax to have your IMEI on the allowed list, you won’t be able to access carrier networks. That’s how they enforce the blocking and allowing.
3 Likes
I would like to see it. There is already posts on the Mudi 4G LTE router with Blue Merle that can change IMEI. So I cant see the issue.
Good luck, hope nothing goes wrong with that plan.
- Do you change all identifiers relevant to participation in cellular networks? If so, what are they and how are each of them important?
- Can you explain why this is feasible in the first place? I have maybe mistakenly assumed that IMEIs were hardware-level identifiers and any software-based attempt to mask them could be bypassed.
There is only 1 component required from your side in order to participate in a cellular network, which is a working modem with a valid (not blacklisted) IMEI.
They are hardware level identifiers but they are stored on the persist partition together with all other identifiers like MAC/SN/SKU which are all stored in devinfo, it’s a text file
to make things simple. So the baseband reads the info from that partition and trusts it.
There is no special magic here, it works the same with nearly all Android devices. On Qualcomm chips you had to use special closed source utilities like QPST, but since modern Pixels use Samsung modems it actually became quite easier - doesn’t even require a PC to modify the identifiers.
As far as I am aware this is not illegal in the United States so it is not a problem. If it requires illegally obtained tools it would be an issue distributing or linking to them here, but mere instructions on how to do this should be perfectly fine.
Sounds interesting, please start a new thread if you’d like to share!
4 Likes