Question about SIM card

BobGnarley

If I have used a sim card tied to my identity is my physical phone (6a with GOS) forever tied to my identity? I read that you can change the IMEI number in the 6a's, is that a possibility?

Probably9857

BobGnarley If I have used a sim card tied to my identity is my physical phone (6a with GOS) forever tied to my identity?

The mobile network provider will have that link between SIM and IMEI for as long as they (or any parties they share it with) retain the data. If the IMEI showed up again in the future, they could (if they cared enough) link it to your identity with a high probability, though not 100% certainty.

Probably9857

BobGnarley I read that you can change the IMEI number in the 6a's, is that a possibility?

I doubt it, but who knows? Not easily. Also, I think this is illegal in most countries

de0u

BobGnarley I read that you can change the IMEI number in the 6a's, is that a possibility?

I am unaware of any credible source supporting such a claim. I believe early Pixels could have their IMEIs adjusted with a Qualcomm tool called QPST, but I think Qualcomm Snapdragons were used only through the 5 series.

rellhom

Probably9857

correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought this was already a built-in feature of GOS?

Probably9857

rellhom I thought this was already a built-in feature of GOS?

GrapheneOS prevents apps from reading the IMEI, not mobile networks.

other8026

I'd suggest reading through this thread and some of the replies: https://grapheneos.social/@GrapheneOS/113319956422621755

Also, it's my understanding that Pixels don't support changing the IMEI, not that it matters much because there are other identifiers that are used. If you really wanted to appear to be a different person/device to the cellular network, you'd have to get a completely different phone and SIM card.

rellhom

Probably9857

really? I thought the idea of it was that your IMEI is randomized when you connect to wifi so that they can't profile you based on repeat visits or connections? so there is no way to randomize imei when connecting to your isp through the sim card?

DeletedUser87

rellhom your IMEI has nothing to do with WiFi, that would be (WiFI) MAC address. Which gets randomized in GOS per connection (or per network, depending on your settings). The IMEI is a unique number associated with a handset and is actually stored in the baseband. You have no control over the baseband as a regular user. From what I know (correct me if I'm wrong), the only way to change the IMEI would be to desolder and reflash the baseband with a different IMEI. (and knowing modern phones, it's also serialized to the CPU in many cases, so good luck changing it) Since all of this is highly illegal, I wouldn't recommend to research too much about that topic as it will probably land you on some list.

rellhom

DeletedUser87

thanks, I was mixing up the two