Well, I wanna share my experience, caveats i stumbled upon and how I went around.
First things first. I do not encourage anyone to repeat what I did.
I do not try to achieve full privacy or total anonymity. My goal - ditch as mach persistent identifiers that are linked to me. So I am ok with BTC, Telegram and other non fully anonymous services.
My primary goal is to get rid of mass surveillance, surveillance capitalism and mass attacks (do not confuse with targeted ones)
This post will be about how I live without bank cards (do not confuse with bank account) and SIM cards.
Caveat 1
No SIM = no phone number → no way to verify anything (for example Signal)
For this type of issue I use long-term rented number on Crypton (Tor link)[1] (my favorite).
For one-time activations I love SMSPool (onion link)[2]
This allows me to get verified on Signal, Telegram, Viber ETC.
Caveat 2
No number = no calls. What if I need to call someone?
No GSM calls. They reveal IMEI, allow ISP to see your location and can be easily spoofed.
I prefer Signal and Telegram for calling. Sometimes Viber.
Caveat 3
No bank card = no online shopping, right? Unfortunately, mostly true. Sometimes I use gift cards (purchased by cash). Sometimes just ask someone to order for me.
Yes, not really fixable, unfortunately.
While I am okay to share my adress for delivery guys, I still prefer to go and buy physically.
Many niche privacy gadgets already support paying with crypto to purchase
Caveat 4
No credit card = no credit score, no way to receive salary, no way to pay for utils… stop. Not so bad.
Actually, I do not have especially card and net banking, not bank account.
I obviously pay for utils (but mostly with street terminals, just not to walk to bank office) and receive salary, which I immediately withdraw.
Why no cards? Obviously because they are easily tracked, allows bank and partners to spy what you like (ex which coffe shops, brands etc).
Why no net banking? For security reasons. No net banking = nothing to hack.
What about credit history? I do not use credits at all, but my rating pretty high for such use.
Caveat 5
Wait a minute! All smartphones can call emergency services even without SIM! So they actually constantly connect to cell towers revealing IMEI anyway!
Relax. I know that. Currently I have Samsung with Lineage OS (yeah, I know, but it is temporary solution) always in airplane mode. But I plan to purchase something like this with phisical switches.
Caveat 6
Wait a minute! Airplane mode = no mobile internet!
Well, obviously, especially if there is no SIM.
So how to stay connected?! Actually, pretty easy in my city: public wifi network including municipal one when outside, and my home network when inside.
Hold on! Public networks?! They are privacy nightmare!
Not so much if you yse MAC randomization (not stable one, fully random that changes each time you connect) + trustworthy VPN with kill-switch.
Caveat 7
VPN. So now we need to pay VPN too?!
Actually, not. ProtonVPN and Orbot have your back for free. Especially Orbot (even if slower), which allows you to use Tor advanced circumvention technologies to bypass VPN blocks in some networks.
So Orbot? It makes your IP “dirty”!
Well, yeah. Pretty much unfixable. But mostly this leads only to captcha’s, nothing more.
Caveat 8
So no phone number, no banking app… How to even call a ride for example?
Obviously via app. Did you expect calling a taxi or delivery with call like in late 90’s?
Wait a second! Via app! That’s it! They are full of trackers! This goes against goar to resist mass surveillance and surveillance capitalism!
Exactly. So they live in virtual machine. Mostly AndroidĂ—86, but I am experimenting with waydroid. + hard block of surveillance shit via DNS filter.
For now I also looking for privacy gadgets (like modems that support IMEI swap) to purchase anonymous SIM, but this is not a priority, plus even if I swap IMEI, cellular provider will still be able to track location.