What Device Info Can 4G Data Dongles Get?

Dr-M

Hi all,

I currently have a 4G data dongle (Vodafone K5161) plugged into the USB port of my laptop.

I am aware of the internet traffic that all ISPs can obtain and how VPNs can hide this traffic. However, I am trying to understand what info the dongle can take about my laptop. Are there any hardware identifiers the dongle accesses?

Thank you

Edit: If it matters, the sim card in the data dongle is not registered to me - it's pay as you go. We don't need ID to buy sim cards here in the UK.

evalda

I am not sure from the top of my head if any USB hardware identifiers will be visible to the dongle.... I would assume some will be... So do more research if that's important...

Something else to think about is where are you going to connect to the towers from the dongle... Like if you use it from home it will be trivial for them to associate it with you even if the SIM card and the dongle were purchased anonymously...

Dr-M

evalda Thanks. I've read the privacy policy for Vodafones broadband products. It says:

For providing end user support and optimizing your WiFi experience we are collecting information about connected devices (MAC address, Serial Number, user given host names and WiFi connection quality) as well as information about the WiFi networks (MAC addresses and identifiers, radio statistics)

I assume I can ignore the stuff about WIFI because this dongle is ethernet only. I believe I can spoof the mac and host name easily. However, I don't know what serial number they are taking and how to hide it. Does anyone here know?

evalda

USB gadgets (like cellular modem in your case) report their serial number to USB host... I am not sure if the opposite is true or not... I think USB host doesn't have to report any kind of serial number to the gadget... But I may be wrong... More research is needed here