FlaFeb 3
raptor 

“The uncomfortable truth: every #phone with a SIM card is a tracking device that happens to run apps.”

https://fumics.in/posts/2026-02-01-phone-gps-carrier-tracking.html

Your Phone Silently Sends GPS to Your Carrier — Here's How

Your phone's baseband silently computes and sends precise GPS coordinates to your carrier via RRLP and LPP protocols. No notification, no consent, no way to opt out.

Sudheer Singh
Feb 2 at 10:10amWeb
Show threadlj·rkFeb 2
@raptor Hm, does removing the SIM work? I thought I can call emergency services even with no SIM? I mean, I guess they can't track me by phone number then, but still. Or am I mistaken?
Show threadraptor Feb 2

@ljrk excellent question! I don’t know the answer (but I think you’re correct).

What I do know is that if you replace your sim with another one they can still trace your phone’s imei and associate the new sim to you.

Also, proximity history b/w phones/sims counts (i.e. if you have a “burner” phone).

Finally: did you know that most modern cars have integrated “phones”?

Show threadlj·rkFeb 2

@raptor Hah, good catch w/ the burner phones!

And yeah, but I don't have a license so ^^'

Show threadDavid Chisnall (*Now with 50% more sarcasm!*)Feb 2

@ljrk @raptor

The phone has two key identifiers. The SIM has an identifier that associates the phone with some account. The IMEI number uniquely identifies the phone. The IMEI is used in handshakes with the cell towers. If you have ever had the SIM in the phone, the carrier will link the IMEI and the SIM identifiers for tracking. Removing the SIM does not remove their ability to uniquely identify you.

Show threadraptor Feb 2
@david_chisnall @ljrk precisely! Thank you for putting it more eloquently than I did 😅
Show threadThe Subliminal PressFeb 2
@aachen @fairphone
Do you have any answer for the #baseband / #E911 carrier-tracking issue?
@postmarketOS
Show threadEINGFOAN  Feb 2
@raptor Would be interested if #jolla #eos or #grapheneos also suffers from that
Show threadCarePackage17Feb 2

@eingfoan @raptor I would assume yes.

Jolla reuses Android BSPs when bringing up hardware, they don't get special treatment from vendors. Graphene and eos are forked from AOSP, none of them touch baseband in any way (aside from graphene maybe including vendor firmware patches in a timely manner where others don't bother)

Show threadDominikFeb 3

@eingfoan @raptor The phone connects to towers to function, that's literally how the modem works. And that's true for every device with a SIM.

And the provider of course knows where you connect to and thus where you are all the time.

Show threadhenkf_itsjustmeFeb 3
@chrastecky @eingfoan @raptor yep. The only way to be off grid is to be off grid. No phone no gps device nothing. Just a paper map and some envelopes and stamps. Paper and a pen would be nice too.
Show threadquixoteFeb 3
@eingfoan @raptor Graphene has an option not to report location, or to report only imprecise location. Of course, as others said, the sim is contacting a cell tower which does tell snoopers its location. But that doesn't give them much exactness. They can't see, I presume?, whether you're visiting a doctor, going to the supermarket, where you work exactly, where you live, etc. They can see whether you're in Richmond in London or East Jesus, Kentucky.
Show threadFlaFeb 3

@quixote @eingfoan @raptor

This is not about triangulation with cell towers, it's about requesting the GPS chip, so having exact coordinates, without going through the normal CPU of the phone, so features such as "Fake location" in /e/ OS are ineffective.

The only way to be fully safe is to disable the network, so be in Airplane mode (using Wi-Fi if you want internet connection).