Identifiers During Boot

forumuser

Do any identifiers such as Bluetooth, non-randomized Mac address, IMEI or modem identifiers leak during the boot process either locally or to cell phone towers?

Have there been tests done to confirm no leaky identifiers and can users test this in any way?

other8026

forumuser

I have a few links/quotes for you from the website:

Hardware Identifiers

Non-hardware Identifiers

And this quote from the FAQ

Activating airplane mode will fully disable the cellular radio transmit and receive capabilities, which will prevent your phone from being reached from the cellular network and stop your carrier (and anyone impersonating them to you) from tracking the device via the cellular radio. The baseband implements other functionality such as Wi-Fi and GPS functionality, but each of these components is separately sandboxed on the baseband and independent of each other. Enabling airplane mode disables the cellular radio, but Wi-Fi can be re-enabled and used without activating the cellular radio again. This allows using the device as a Wi-Fi only device.

And I understand that your question is whether they can show up during boot, to which I can only say that in my experience, phones running Android start up and resume the state they were in before the phone turned off. I don't think there's any reason to think that there are any identifiers leaking during boot.

GrapheneOS

forumuser

Do any identifiers such as Bluetooth, non-randomized Mac address, IMEI or modem identifiers leak during the boot process either locally or to cell phone towers?

No. They aren't enabled until the OS boots and are only active if it enables them. MAC randomization also doesn't work the way you seem to think. It's not something added on top.

The OS has to do work in order to get the radios running each boot. They don't function without the OS.

DeletedUser115

IMEI and friends always communicated to the cell towers unless in airplane mode. Other than that, I'd also like to know the answer regarding boot time exposure.

forumuser

DeletedUser115 I also wonder of I am better off with the OS on or phone powered off.

forumuser

This is in regard to a device that always has Bluetooth disabled and in airplane mode at all times after the OS loads.

forumuser

other8026 It would be good if there were a clear explanation of this by someone in a technical way that somewhat unsophisticated people can understand. I know Bluetooth identifiers are unique and burned into the hardware. If this bluetooth device turns on during boot and nearby smart devices are always monitoring for connections and the Bluetooth identifier is detected, it could be really bad for privacy. I understand they are off when Graphene OS is running, but Pixels have firmware and multiple hardware components that power on before Graphene OS loads and there is often a number sequence used prior to even accessing the OS.

This description is not differentiating between what Graphene blocks and what Pixels share when powered on prior to the OS loading. With Google Home products in many places, asking whether a Google Pixel talks to those products using Bluetooth or WiFi prior to boot is not a strange question.

forumuser

other8026 rely on experience on what things probably do doesn't give definite answer

DeletedUser115

forumuser In my observation Pixel phones when powered off preserve the battery charge really well unlike iPhones. This tells me that nothing draws power on Pixels in the off state. It's a good sign that baseband is not powered.