• Off Topic
  • Is buying with cash really worth it?

I'm about to buy a pixel 7 phone. Normally I would simply buy using cash where it is feasible. However, Amazon currently has it on sale at 20% off where I am, which is quite a lot.

I'm wondering if the privacy implications of buying a phone using debit card are significant enough to justify forking out more money than I need to, especially when you factor in that I will be getting someone else to buy it for me, and I plan on using a brand new sim for the phone.

Any thoughts?

    Delaney

    If your in the U.S. you could use privacy.com who can generate a debit card number for you. You do need to provide them details but at least that way your data would be more private. If someone else is buying it for you it wont be connected to you or your address anyhow.

    From: https://grapheneos.org/faq#hardware-identifiers

    Apps can determine the model of the device (such as it being a Pixel 6) either directly or indirectly through the properties of the hardware and software.

    Could be relevant if your threat model is ok with apps identifying the phone you are using.

    Delaney If you're going to buy a Pixel device from Amazon, make absolutely sure OEM Unlocking is able to be enabled by the user. Users buying supposedly 'unlocked' Pixel 6a phones from Amazon have had trouble installing GrapheneOS: https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/4467-oem-unlock-grayed-out

    Note that in the case of the Pixel 6a, this might be due to the stock firmware being older than June 2022, and can be fixed by updating the phone. Personally, I bought my Pixel 6a from the Google Store and I was able to unlock it from the get-go without updating the firmware.

    Pixel phones which are locked to a certain carrier tend to also prevent users from unlocking the bootloader, but that doesn't mean an 'Unlocked' phone will allow the user to unlock the bootloader, too. The only phones I know for certain allow unlocking are the ones sold from the Google Store, but there are likely brick-and-mortar stores which sell Pixel phones like this too (in my country, options are more limited).

      The only folks I know who pay everything with currency, seem to do it in the naive belief that they can somehow “hide” by doing this.

      Either that or they have a bankruptcy in their past, and consequently have zero credit.