I think we might see one or more “trusted fediverse” groups emerge in the next few years, with instance admins making commitments to security controls, moderation, code of conduct, etc.
There is now at least one system in place for admins to vouch for other instances being non-malicious, and to report suspected instances. It is called the fediseer: https://gui.fediseer.com/
I have the Tianje MF903 (https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/32719535459.html), which I bought early 2022.
But just now I have done a search and I see many more pocket wifi routers now. Unfortunately I can’t tell you if they work well, or if it is also possible to change their IMEI easily. The one I have is functional, but it doesn’t have a very long battery life.
Almost all countries require official authentication to activate a SIM card.
Fortunately not in the Netherlands. I don’t think that’s the case in the rest of the EU. I can use free sim cards as much as I want!
When communicating with cell towers, a phone will also broadcast its unique IMEI identifier. So, even if you swap the SIM card every day, your IMEI is still being broadcast the same.
Changing the IMEI of a phone in the EU is illegal, unless the manufacturer consents: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/31/section/1
So… I have a Chinese 4G mobile router, and the manufacturer gives me the permission to change the IMEI as it is an integrated feature of the device. I use that for my data. The data codes I purchase small quantities in bulk with cash, and I can access the router via its ip from my phone’s browser to send the SMS messages to activate the data codes as needed. Since WiFi connections are abundant around here I keep these codes for emergencies. I can go a few months some time without activating data codes. I mostly use them when traveling internationally.
I don’t know if this mindset will hold true with the new owner of Twitter though. I would assume Elon will do far worse things with the data.
I don’t know much about Elon Musk. But he strikes me as someone who would want to extract as much value as possible from data, and not as someone who thinks user privacy is something important to protect. Is this a topic that he has publicly spoken about?
This feels like one of those chain messages that we would get on Facebook asking us to do something like posting “I don’t give permission to Facebook to use my data”. Except that this time it is actually true!
I have added “_nomap” to my SSID and now I have to read the manual for the wifi extender, which by default appends _EXT to the SSID 🙄
I would much rather see a “_yesmap” opt-in policy!
Is the fact that I recognize this comment evidence that I use Lemmy a bit too much? 😅