Hacker News Reader

Comment by 01100011 | Hacker News Reader

No. You give it to an accomplice who continues using it consistent with your typical usage patterns. That way you not only avoid a digital trail, you generate a digital alibi.

I suspect in 20 years, walking down the street without a digital radio in your pocket will arouse suspicion though.

View on HN

At some point they’d probably figure out how to use the accelerometer to fingerprint your movements. Your accomplice will almost certainly have a different profile for how the phone moves when walking.

I guess you could limit accomplice activities to things like driving around.

The resolution is probably already there now. AI can do gait recognition based on video, and sensor traces from accelerometers are accurate enough to detect individual footsteps. Are they precise enough to recognize gait? I don't know. But they can easily distinguish between walking, jogging, running, and riding a bike.

iPhone is already precise enough to tell how much time you spend on the left leg, right leg and both legs down. Sure they have a walking profile.

> Are they precise enough to recognize gait? I don't know.

Yes. [0] And that's hardly the only paper on achieving the technique.

[0] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25423662/

And that assumes no CCTV (which will sooner or later be 4k).

This is well into "tin foil hat" territory for me personally, but I've stopped automatically putting my phone in my pocket when I go out for an errand.

I lived the first fifteen years of my life without a "phone" on me at all times, and I don't see why I need one now.

I frequently carry a dumbphone, powered off, charged, with no sim card.

This allows it to be powered on and emergency services called if necessary. (911/112 works fine without a SIM.)

I've debated getting a cheap/tiny phone like a Unihertz Jelly Pro with a Redpocket sim card to just keep in the car for emergencies. So far I just leave my phone at home unless I'm going on a longer trip.

For true life safety emergencies you don't even need the SIM/subscription as 911 will still work.

For sub-life safety personal emergencies, I can usually just wait until wi-fi.

Well if your car breaks there's not going to be any wi-fi coming along.

An accomplice is a liability though. Also it's harder to make it rhyme. "If you're doing a felony, give your phone to Melanie."

Yea, that whole, "How do you keep a secret between three people?". Kill the other two.

Yup they could turn state's witness or blackmail you. Plus they'll want a cut of the spoils if there are any. Better to establish a pattern of leaving your phone untouched at home. Assuming you're planning it ahead of time that is.

Or do the deed in those convenient 5-8 hour blocks of sleep where you don't use your phone

Melonie rhymes better !

>I suspect in 20 years, walking down the street without a digital radio in your pocket will arouse suspicion though.

Reading things like this makes me think of climate change messing up infrastructure and space junk making it impossible to operate satellites is maybe for the better.

Laws have obviously failed in keeping technology at bay from concentrating power in the hands of a few. Maybe nature can help reverse this.

No, you play a game that incentivizes walking and get a little rocker cradle thing that makes it appear to the game like you're walking many hours a day, then drop your phone into that before leaving.

"We're sure he did it, he hatched 12k eggs at the same time!"

An EMP in a backpack. How powerful could one make a portable EMP?

A faraday cage would probably be better.

I was just thinking about a fanny pack with faraday shielding sewn into the fabric. Kinda like PacSafe products.

The amp is for taking out cameras :)

EMP would destroy the surveillance infrastructure. Faraday cage only shields your own electronics.

There are RF-shielded bags, wallets, and purses.

https://privacypros.io/faraday-bags/

there is no way to make an EMP of useful effect without high explosives

Reply on news.ycombinator.com