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Been trying to tell folks this for years.
I read the article but I must’ve missed something: basically it’s saying if I go to another country and use my phone or device in roaming, my home telecom operator, and so my home country, can track me via the GSM signaling protocol. This is pretty much expected, so I don’t see the big deal, but …
Two questions:
- Can a third country not related to my home country or the country I’m visiting track me? the article uses the example of Saudi Arabia tracking saudi citizens abroad, which is troubling but unsurprising. If an unrelated third party / country could track, that’s more interesting
- Can’t I just avoid this by simply buying a local prepaid SIM card when traveling? The article says “there’s not much you can do about this” but if I were to buy a local SIM card, then I’m not roaming.
You really don’t have to be roaming. There is no technical or lawful reason why it has to be roaming. Roaming is an excuse, not a reason.
Can a third country not related to my home country…
Yes. All they need is your IMEI number
Can’t I just avoid this by simply buying a local prepaid SIM card when traveling
IMEI is an equipment identifier associated with your phone. You could buy a local SIM and a burner.
I see, thanks for the explanation. Yeah, burner phone, or I guess, have a “phone” using only wifi and use some secure messenger app to call & text (I want to say Signal, but that requires a phone number…), for the truly paranoid.
You can geolocate wifi phones too. It’s easier than mobile phones. But, good luck.