Topic: Should I make an isolation box for my phone? (Read 394 times)

It is, I'm just another overly-paranoid guy out there and although many consider I'm going towards the extremes, I don't give a damn.

I am still looking for a DIY tutorial for some portable Faraday cage. I have some boxes at home made out of metal but they don't help much: phone still rings after I close the box and is still connected to Wi-Fi. AFAIK, as soon as you put an AM radio inside the box and it stops receiving signal, it means you've got a successful cage.

Anti-RFID pouches/cases I've seen are too expensive. Tinfoil should do the job but there must be something I'm doing wrong as signals are leaked. I made a DIY phone case with some tinfoil and if I put my phone inside the case and then put the case inside a metal box, it disconnects from everything: bluetooth, Wi-Fi, radio, cell signal.

You know these older phones with physical keyboards? If you have one of these, take it and use it for calls and messaging. If you want to stop the tracking, just take the battery out and there you go. You could have two phones:

- Phone A, old model (say an old Nokia) strictly for communicating through SMS & calling;
- Phone B, smartphone with modified hardware (no mics, no GPS antennae, no cameras, no fingerprint etc) for Internet browsing. If you go for a combination of Graphene OS, Replicant or Lineage OS (without GApps, of course) with Orbot and Tor browsing and never connect to any of your personal accounts, you should be good.

If the old phone you're using for communication has a 3.5mm jack slot and you're worried you may be listened to through the phone's mic, you could take the mic off and only call using headphones or handsfree. May be more inconvenient but it eliminates this risk too.

For accounts, Parrot OS Live with Anonsurf on or Tails is the best choice. When I need to log in to Twitter for example (I use an account that has no link to my identity), I use Tails but I make sure I do not access any other of my accounts unless I reboot. Be under control of the tracking. Take your privacy back, I never consider a step towards my privacy to be "too much". It's never too much imo.

its general location would still get logged by any cell tower it can reach. and if wifi is on all wifi APs will see it too, even if it doesnt connect to them.

not as precise as gps but still enough to lose privacy.

Using a phone without GPS seems to be the only rational solution.

The important factor is that I can decide when I will allow tracking.

But the moment it gets out of the box, it's going to get pinged and you are going to be tracked again. And most of the solutions I've seen are either that, or modifying a smartphone to become something more analogic. That's why I proposed it as an alternative earlier in the thread (even if there was some joke to it); it's the cheapest and most efficient solution to avoid carrying unnecessary weight or getting tracked at any point (if the hardware does not have the tech, how can it be tracked?)

I don't understand why you guys are taking the piss. It seems a sensible idea to me.. You keep the phone in a box to avoid tracking. When you feel like it, you take it out and see if anyone has called. If you want to talk to them, then you phone them back. Most of the time I get calls when I am driving, so I don't answer those, and I phone others back to save them the cost of the calls if they are on a pay by the inch tariff.

Anyway I'm going to do it if they are going to try to make us install tracking apps.

Reminds me of Sarah Connor keeping her phone in a potato chip bag.

Found a pretty cool tutorial: https://www.slashgear.com/true-phone-security-means-living-without-apps-gps-or-internet-13557868/amp/

Kind of extreme imo but if you were considering led box, Faraday inclosures etc it might not be that far off

I don't use my microwave oven. Should I store my phone in there?

power it off?

after all its useless in a faraday cage anyway (or lead).

I have a beautiful copper box lined with walnut.

I place that in a stainless steel lunch box.
I also have cloth wallet lined with metallic material.


amazing that none of the three items above do the trick alone.

you need two of the three.

the copper box 📦 is a bit tight so I keep other electronics in it.

I use the cloth wallet and the stainless steel box when i drive.

both from amazon.

search

phone wallet faraday on amazon for cloth wallet with lining.

bento box stainless steel .


put phone in wallet
put wallet in bento box.

you will also be water proof with correct bento box.

here is the cloth wallet

https://www.amazon.com/Blocking-ONEVER-Protection-Anti-Tracking-Anti-Spying/dp/B07BQM75MH/ref=sr_1_3?


here is the bento box  you want it without the divider


https://www.amazon.com/G-HOMEFAVOR-Stainless-Containers-Dishwasher/dp/B07NW77BS6/ref=sr_1_10?


If you put phone in wallet
then put wallet in bento box
the phone is dead to the world

Ah, the good ol' Nokia 3310. Snake and Space Impact were my favorite games.

Why not using a WWII tank? There should be some for sale and have the side benefit of protecting you against physical aggression to steal your keys.

I know that a lead lined box seems to be a bit of overkill, but as I already have some thing lead offcuts from roof flashing, it is a really easy option for me. I can cut the lead, and solder it to make a secure box, and pop it into a tin. I can keep the phone inside, and only remove it to make and receive calls. I like the idea of including an extra compartment for a Bitcoin wallet and some backup memory sticks as well.

I have similar concerns, yea. I had the sudden realization a couple years ago when I realized I had my location tracked by social media for quite a while - without my knowledge. I have honestly been so tempted to just go back to the old-standard flip phone, only for calls and maybe texts. The problem is a lot of the available flip-phones that would actually work right now are still powered by Android/susceptible to location tracking, etc.

I mean, it is abstract, but providers have been distributing alternative OSs for phones for a while, for example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Touch

I do wonder if it's possible to load up a version and strip out the geolocation portions.

Any kind of Faraday Cage will do the work, be it tinfoil like the comment above says, or any metallic "cage". Problem is that you'd need to have a hole big enough for you to be able to use it, and well...., that it won't be able to connect to anything....

So your only way of using the phone, without it bein tracked is going analogic....



You'll even save on screen protectors and electricity (not needing to charge it)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07S4HF3J2/

Lead's going a bit far. I got these when I realised they'll be using this virus as an excuse to track us ever more. Obviously test the product before going out there. Literal tinfoil would do, it looks like, if you really want to do it yourself.

A lead-lined box is great for protecting circuitry in that mythical but much-feared event, an EMP attack, so why not make one to safeguard a copy of your money on a stick drive, in case of incomplete information and other surprises. Also handy for clonking people on the head.


They then can only say you used it that once, without breaking their cover. Depends how untidy things get how much this matters.

You'll still have to pull it out to use it.

In the past, I haven't really been bothered by geotracking on my phone, but I'm starting to rethink my attitude. It isn't just Google an Facebook. but a load of other organisations seem to be getting in on the idea. I've got some old roofing lead, and I'm thinking of lining a tin box with it, and using it to isolate my phone, especially when I am travelling.

Does any one else have similar concerns?