Possible Honeypot?

frankwhite33333

I know this is an off topic question but it somewhat pertains to this whole area, I've recently switched over to GrapheneOS and i came across some privacy focused Esim plans. There one was that seemed good called Silent.link it requires no kyc and takes monero as payment. But there isn't much information available about who the owners are or anything or where its based out of, has anyone had any experience with this provider and if this turned out to be a honeypot how could they compromise you and what could they possibly get if you installed the E-sim.

SgtSurehand

frankwhite33333 what you can do is much simpler than meets the eye. Shift away from insecure messaging and use a respectable VPN to shield your traffic from your internet provider. Also move from using native apps to web frontends and use Javascript as sparingly as possible. (i.e. don't consider using silent.link)

dhhdjbd

frankwhite33333 not sure where you are from, but in usa you can just buy a prepaid sim and card in any store... (without kyc)
(Which you can use with a vpn)

ryrona

dhhdjbd not sure where you are from, but in usa you can just buy a prepaid sim and card in any store... (without kyc)

In most countries this is not possible, since there are laws that require any reseller of SIM cards to ID the buyer and register the SIM card to the buyer. In many countries, information about who (name and social security number) that owns a certain phone number is public information, so you not only have no anonymity towards authorities, but simply no anonymity towards anyone.

It doesn't matter really, just don't use phone and SMS, and if you need anonymity, never register anything in your phone number at all (so also don't use WhatsApp and Signal). And use a VPN. Then you can use any cellular provider, and still have privacy. They know exactly where you are, but that is all. Not what you use your phone for, or whom you talk to online. Nor can anyone else.

There are still cases where knowing exactly where you are is a problem too. Eg for domestic abuse victims who have fled from their abuser. They often cannot use phones at all because of these laws, because their abuser would find them. As far as I know, buying unregistered SIM cards from abroad are still legal. But yeah, you never know if the seller is reputable or the service is any good or existing at all.

stupidcreature

ryrona (so also don't use WhatsApp and Signal)

Not sure about that one. You can use Google voice to get a phone number on which to register the Signal as an option. You can easily set up a disposable Google account to get it too so while yes, using Google is not ideal, no data from Signal should be associated with it (if you use usernames and etc. etc.) - just the fact of the matter that whomever owns your phone number (you in this case) uses Signal. Not ideal solution but waaaaaaaaay better, than not using Signal at all.

DeletedUser203

stupidcreature the very fact you have used a phone number to get signal, whichever route you took, however harmless or devious, it always provides a basis on which to begin the pursuit of the individual. Anything is a lead however small. Better off, not providing the start point, in the first place...
Signal and Molly they are for the general public instead of using SMS.
Use other messenger services that are secure, or better still dispense with messaging altogether, if you are the target.

Viewpoint0232

You could potentially spread trust like this:

use a trustworthy VPN (like Mullvad or IVPN) so that your ISP can't see what you're doing online
use a service like jmp.chat to get a real phone number through the Internet; you can use this number for e.g. Signal or just being reachable with a normal phone call, but the calls happen through the Internet so you can't be geolocated by them
use a service like silent.link for mobile Internet service provider (ISP)

So then silent.link can potentially know your location (because of cell tower triangulation) but doesn't know who you are (Monero payment), or what you do (because of the VPN). jmp.chat gives you a phone number to use but doesn't know where you are (unlike a normal phone SIM card) or who you are (can pay with Monero).