Burner phones have a lot more info about you than people think.
Or at least I know that in one court case there was a nice big 8x10 of the defendant purchasing a burner phone. Apparently a lot of Point of Sale systems, especially where they sell burner phones, are wired to take a nice portrait of you when you purchase. I didn't know that at the time, and apparently, neither did the defendant.
That, combined with the location of his phone matching the location of his license plate around town did him in.
So if you try the burner phone thing, someone else has to buy it, and you should never take it with you to places where there are likely to be security cameras. And you also might want to refrain from driving with it in your vehicle.
Not sure if I want to live my life like I’m planning a bank robbery at any minute. Seems more effective to petition your representative to restrict use of this data.
Well the assumption when proposing a plan is that we want the plan to actually accomplish something. If we don't care about effectiveness, then "ignore the problem and hope it goes away" is clearly the best option.
If you're being targeted by the government, this is something you should be aware of. Using today's convenient tech can get you locked up or killed.
However, if state persecution isn't part of your threat model, a burner is one layer of indirection that might make tracking and identification difficult for surveillance companies.
Or at least I know that in one court case there was a nice big 8x10 of the defendant purchasing a burner phone. Apparently a lot of Point of Sale systems, especially where they sell burner phones, are wired to take a nice portrait of you when you purchase. I didn't know that at the time, and apparently, neither did the defendant.
That, combined with the location of his phone matching the location of his license plate around town did him in.
So if you try the burner phone thing, someone else has to buy it, and you should never take it with you to places where there are likely to be security cameras. And you also might want to refrain from driving with it in your vehicle.