Hobby phones

[I B Hankering]

Following the advice given in this thread I purchased a ‘hobby phone’ to enhance anonymity. While in the process of activating this ‘hobby phone’, I had to use another phone which ultimately can be traced back to me. I was also asked for my birthday (an option I could choose and did choose to skip) and my zip code. Is this process common, and doesn’t it undermine anonymity? Or did I just buy a cheap throw away with the wrong type of service?

[trekker]

It's easy enough to just lie about the birthdate and zip code. The birthdate is probably one of the "security questions" you'd use to retrieve a password if you choose to "lock" your phone and the zip code to determine the area code of your phone number. Some phones require that you call from another phone to activate it; mine activated with the first call I dialed out with it which was a business number I got from an infomercial. If you need someone to call you to activate the phone, go to a titty bar and ask one of the girls to help out with that. Lots of them have "stripper phones" that serve the same purpose as hobby phones and they'll understand the whole idea perfectly.

[I B Hankering]

I had to use an operational phone to activate the hobby phone by calling a 1-800 number and going through a menu. I feel that the anonymity of the hobby phone is compromised because I used a trackable phone to activate it. Am I justified in believing this, or just paranoid?

[Brvmax]

I B.......activate from a payphone.......they are still out there believe it or not

[stavinChain]

IB - I use a tracfone that I activated over the Internet. I didn't have to give ANY personal info.

And if you're paranoid enough, I guess you could take your laptop to a coffee shop with wi-fi to hide your IP address. (I'm ASSUMING you can hide your IP address that way. Techies, please correct me if I'm wrong...)

[trekker]

Originally Posted by stavinChain

IB - I use a tracfone that I activated over the Internet. I didn't have to give ANY personal info.

And if you're paranoid enough, I guess you could take your laptop to a coffee shop with wi-fi to hide your IP address. (I'm ASSUMING you can hide your IP address that way. Techies, please correct me if I'm wrong...)

It doesn't make it impossible, but probably too much work for a disgruntled "associate" or a misdemeanor investigation.

[stavinChain]

thanks Trekker

[guest041110]

Originally Posted by stavinChain

IB - I use a tracfone that I activated over the Internet. I didn't have to give ANY personal info.

And if you're paranoid enough, I guess you could take your laptop to a coffee shop with wi-fi to hide your IP address. (I'm ASSUMING you can hide your IP address that way. Techies, please correct me if I'm wrong...)

Originally Posted by trekker

It doesn't make it impossible, but probably too much work for a disgruntled "associate" or a misdemeanor investigation.

If you are using Windoz as your OS then make sure to have your machine name set to something that does not tie to you personally. Other than that, then using WiFi where you just connect after boot up, no special access codes and such, does hide your IP as far as traceability to you personally. I have been an IT guy for a long time and if I wanted to do something nefarious that is one thing I would use. Once you disconnect and walk out of the place with WiFi, the trace to you stops which means the locale with the WiFi is on the hook. The not impossible part of what Trekker wrote is if you do more than just read but post something that traces to you or your family or work then there you go. Otherwise, it is like I wrote.

[stavinChain]

Thanks LD.

And BTW, could you please type a little smaller next time. I could almost read what you wrote with my thickest glasses. lol

Seriously, thanx again.

[I B Hankering]

I use a tracfone that I activated over the Internet. I didn't have to give ANY personal info. . . .a coffee shop with wi-fi to hide your IP address

I'll give that a try. Thanks to everyone for the guidance.

[GneissGuy]

If you do a lot of texting, AT&T wireless sells the LG Neon for around $100. It has a keyboard. It may or may not come with some airtime. The user interface sucks donkey dick if you want to do anything other than make calls and send texts, but the keyboard is OK. There are some other phones available with keyboards.

Getting a cellphone that uses SIM cards has some security/privacy advantages. Some carriers use GSM, which uses SIM cards, some don't.

[guest041110]

Originally Posted by stavinChain

Thanks LD.

And BTW, could you please type a little smaller next time. I could almost read what you wrote with my thickest glasses. lol

Seriously, thanx again.

OK, I thought my font pitch was big enough even for us old farts
but since you made a point... How this grab 'ya? Lol!
Anyway, sorry my normal font is hard for you to read. Frankly, I thought it was me but I did not want to use something that people mistook for shouting. Glad you found some value in what I posted.

[stavinChain]

OW!!! MY EYES!!

They hurt real bad. I'm suing yer ass...

[dilbert firestorm]

Originally Posted by stavinChain

OW!!! MY EYES!!

They hurt real bad. I'm suing yer ass...

hey here comes Morris "I'm on your side!" Bart, he'll help sue your ass off! LOL!

[ronmet]

I Do NOT have a Hobby Phone. I am a retired single old man with no SO at present, a grown son who knows what I do, and no job to worry about. At my age I would Brag and plead guilty if it came to that.

For those with wives, Sos, kiddies, and employers who would take violent exception to our activites, a Hobby Phone, a Dedicated Computer, and other well discussed precautions are vital, Fabreeze among them.

However, I was recently one, among apparently several, who had a play mail account hacked and a Viagra ad sent to the entire address book, including some civilians. These name should not have been in that address book.