How I ditched smartphones

I've always wanted to make a two-factor authentication device that has a camera, QR reader, and an e-ink screen for listing the codes that otherwise does nothing else. but ive always been a bit limited because I don't really know where to get started making hardware. but i feel like 2-factor authentication is the number one thing preventing me from getting rid of my smartphone which is kind of silly because why do i need some massive super computer in my pocket (at least from the perspective of the 1980s) to have an alternating cypher to login to websites on my laptop.

>I am also considering using SIP (VOIP) numbers for maximum privacy,

The problem is many services out there using SMS for authentication codes blacklist VOIP numbers and only accept real phone numbers tied to a SIM/eSIM. E.g. In USA, the Social Security website doesn't accept VOIP numbers to verify logins. Also, some software purchase validation schemes (i.e. using phones as a form of "DRM" restriction) reject VOIP numbers.

In the early 2000s when VOIP started being offered to consumers, nobody checked for "is it VOIP?" so didn't rejected them. It was as good as a real phone number. But that has changed and more and more places will not accept them. A lot of financial services (trading platforms and KYC reject VOIP numbers).

Go buy a flip phone which has smartphone capabilities. You can use it for basic smartphone requirements (SMS, browser, camera, etc) but you really wouldn't /want/ to. This is the issue with smartphones - ease of use means you are constantly grabbing for it.

"Ditching the phone? Addiction and Privacy": https://discuss.techlore.tech/t/ditching-the-phone-addiction... (discuss.techlore.tech/t/ditching-the-phone-addiction-and-privacy/15575)

There’s self hosting and DiY and then there’s making your life harder for no reason. I’m down for the former where it makes sense, but cmon now.

The approach @sipofwater takes here, in isolating the cellular network point-of-contact to a modem/router, which can reidentify itself (BSSID) and swap SIMs (this ... should be sufficient to break chain-of-event tracking, though you might find yourself burning through SIMs rather quickly), and relying on other, more-trusted devices for actual communications (voice, SMS (ugh!), Signal (much better), etc., is one I've been exploring for similar reasons. Suggested in a recent HN comment here: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45604692>.

I'd suggest a few further elements to this approach:

- Carry a small-form-factor laptop or palmtop (there are DIY/hobbyist options available, though no commercial products currently) for any substantive communications. Keyboards still beat touchscreens for input by a wide margin, and are usually preferable to speech. The device can of course be provided with a mic and camera should you choose (I'd prefer external and removable here as well). Hybrid devices (laptop/tablet) provide the capabilities of a modern tablet (Android / iOS) with the keyboard stowed, but are a full Real Computer with it exposed, without the crippling limitations of either Google or Apple's mobile OSes and app stores.

- Find or make a mobile Bluetooth / WiFi only voice device. If you're looking for the ability to make and take calls when on the road, a small-form-factor device that doesn't talk to the mobile network directly could be pretty slick. (This would also be useful at fixed locations such as a home, office, or business as a wireless phone.) Apparently setting up your own pre-G4 hotspot violates broadcast regulations in most jurisdictions, so popping up your own dedicated Starfish to serve an old flip / candy-bar phone is an unlikely option.

Another major annoyance of any PSTN voice comms is ever-increasing rates of phone spam. Unfortunately, lowering comms costs to nil makes highly-marginal antisocial behaviours all the more viable. This is a reason I'm looking for VOIP options (small / home office) in which:

- Inbound calls would be routed to the VOIP system, which would deny, challenge, take a message, or forward calls to my mobile platform based on identity / characteristics. This would preserve ability of high-value contacts to reach me directly, whilst denying others claims to my time and attention. A sufficiently robust message / forward system, with, e.g., visual voice mail or voice-to-text transcription would also address the frequently cited exceptional cases of being able to accept urgent or emergency calls from, e.g., healthcare providers, schools, etc.

- Outbound calls would also be routed through the VOIP system. Even with an otherwise bog-standard smart- or feature-phone, this would reduce the surveillance footprint and value of that device in that it would simply be making and taking calls from a single number. Your contacts and comms device are entirely segregated, and the comms device itself becomes disposable without sacrificing a stable point of contact (now the VOIP system).

SMS texts and some related phone-number-based ID validation procedures would remain an issue with this system, though TFA looks as if it's addressing these in at least part.

The headline is a bit misleading he got rid of ALL phones and says he will buy a Linux phone when available. Which makes no sense because there are Linux phones available and they still have the same problems he complains about in his initial paragraph. He still uses a sim but in a stationary devices. Which makes it likely he is most afraid of being tracked while on the go. I would have gone for a pure sip solution personally. If he uses a normal carrier or a sip product doesn't change anything but makes the setup easier. If he uses a burner sim it doesn't make sense to deploy it at home. Which also makes his IMEI/IMSI dancing obsolete. Could be a nice setup deployed in the wild but makes no sense at home. Lots of question marks tbh.