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this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2026
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This is slightly false in an alarmist fashion. At least in the US, the police are not actively tracking anything without a subpoena to the cellular provider of the phone in question. They can look at the location data after the fact, using a court ordered subpoena. They can also use live location data in an emergency situation,also using a court ordered subpoena.
Cellular data from cell towers on cell networks are private property of the cellular provider companies. That's not to say you are private while on them. Just that the police are not actively tracking your location through them without great effort for each individual they wish to track.
You've never heard of a stingray or cell site simulator?
https://www.404media.co/inside-ices-tool-to-monitor-phones-in-entire-neighborhoods/
I thought this was using SDKs embedded in apps and advertising platforms. This is a different threat model. You need to block ads and prefer using websites instead of apps which have more access to device info like the advertising ID.
If you've got an Android, go to Settings, search for ads, and find the advertising ID and delete the ID. It's a stable identifier that can be used to identify your phone.
Switch to more private browsers like Firefox for Mobile and install uBlock Origin.
EDIT: I'm not saying this will protect you against IMSI catchers or tower based drag nets. In addition to not bringing your phone, when you do go home you need an entirely different set of tools to protect yourself.
What qualifies as an "emergency situation"? I imagine that definition could be stretched pretty thinly
Yeah cell tower data is private just like your google search history is private. Which means absolutely not private. Also cops can (and do) use fake cell towers to make your phone connect to something that they have live access to.