Been more conscious of security, I am going to be changing in the near future once I have stored all my current data securely and can start again.
Question is should I just use my current simcard I have been using in my phone for last 5 years don’t really want to change number is there any downsides security wise just swapping sims or should I get a brand new number
Nope, no downsides.
Nodogclean1 are you sure that what you mean to say is security and not privacy? Because from security standpoint iPhone doesn't do so bad. That in itself should be of little concern to you. But if you mean to improve your privacy by tightening control over the apps you use with help of the OS, you should definitely start running now and never look back.
So in short my old sim in a graphine phone is just as secure as a graphine phone with a new number ?
Nodogclean1 I honestly don't understand the question. Which attack vectors are you worried about? What is your threat model?
Sorry I should have been clearer, I’m not very tech savvy and there’s lots of very intelligent knowledgeable people on here so forgive me if I come across a little uneducated.
My threat model is basically just wanting to be anonymous as possible and security if my phone gets in to the wrong hands I do work quite a high risk job.
The original question is just in regards of my sim is obviously linked to me in my current phone so when in a graphene phone I will still be linked but on a new device, would it be better to port this number to a online service and run a new number so there’s no ties to my older device, or would I be better just using my old number I know I can’t hide pinging cell towers etc.
Nodogclean1 My threat model is basically just wanting to be anonymous as possible [...]
That seems a little unlikely given the question.
Being as anonymous as possible arguably requires not having any SIM at all, and maybe also not using Bluetooth ever.
Whether it is problematic to transfer a SIM from an iPhone to a GrapheneOS device depends on which specific information you wish to conceal from whom.
For example, switching SIM cards won't make much difference if the old SIM card and the new one are both used in devices with lots of Facebook traffic, because Facebook doesn't rely on SIM cards to determine identity. Switching SIM cards won't do much if anything about location tracking by cellular carriers.
Unless your needs are specific, it's not clear what is gained by switching SIM cards. If your needs are specific, inventorying them in an organized fashion is probably a good step.
Not the OP but I have privacy concerns such as people knowing my sexuality, politics, religion, etc. I think these things may be weaponized against us very soon. I feel like Apple Intelligence will make this information less than anonymous. Should I get a new SIM card and a new number? I hope I am being specific enough.
quomii I have privacy concerns such as people knowing my sexuality, politics, religion, etc.
There is a fair chance Facebook (for example) already knows all of that, plus probably a couple of the ad-serving networks.
quomii I feel like Apple Intelligence will make this information less than anonymous.
Maybe? They have at least invested in technical infrastructure for your device being able to do off-device private computing, i.e., actions rather than just words (source).
quomii Should I get a new SIM card and a new number?
It's not clear to me how a new SIM card would help. It wouldn't help with location tracking. It also wouldn't happen with behavior tracking. If, hypothetically, you have a Snapchat account, and you were to destroy it and create a new one on a new device with a new SIM card, if you then rejoined your old groups and the "new you" connected to your existing friends and coreligionists, probably you would have spent a lot of time and effort only to end up where you started.
The problem is that the things that are straightforward and obvious (new SIM card) don't address the core of the problem (location tracking, behavior tracking). If you talk to your friends (etc.) using privacy-focused end-to-end encrypted networks, you can be tracked less. But that requires convincing your friends (etc.) to change their habits too. The problem is a hard problem, so steps that are simple and easy probably won't get you very far and might not get you anywhere. To get somewhere substantial you will likely need to behave differently, permanently, in ways that will disrupt some of your existing habits, because your existing habits were steered in part so people could make money by tracking you.
Sounds like the real trick is to stop using social media and stop using my smartphone in general.
In the end how is GrapheneOS better for privacy?
quomii Too many reasons to list in a short post. Play services don't come prebundled with the OS, default connections can be routed to GrapheneOS servers, network restriction permission and many many others, you might as well read the whole Security and Privacy section on GrapheneOS site:
