> SIM-free phone

Is the modem completely disabled? Does it still show the "SOS" option that allows you to call 911 without a SIM? If so, and if it's ever been turned on in your residence, there's a decent chance the IMEI could be traced back to your house just based on pattern-of-life movement.

That's why you also need to enable airplane mode.

Which you can just engage on your current phone.

Airplane mode often leaves bluetooth on, with all the tracking that enables.

On Android at least for now, you can use systemui tuner to pick what gets toggled for airplane mode: Cell, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NFC, WiMAX.

No root needed

Analog recording and viewing may need to become the state of the art given how low the bar has become to manipulate digital media

great news! this old shoulder mount with a strap mounted VHS recorder will finally be able to come out of storage and find a new life! /s

not sure why you feel analog recording is necessary. just need a camera that isn't part of a phone. any DSLR, MFT, Mirrorless cameras would be just as good.

however, there's something to be said about live streaming so that even if the camera is confiscated the images are already publicly available.

I don't disagree with you about the encumbrance and impractically, but the live streaming providers could eventually become unreliable or compromised in a number of ways (genAI, political pressure, advocacy for an agenda of its leadership)