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Re:Feds Got Warrants to Use Fake Cell Towers to Hunt Down Do... by Cider9986 on Monday October 12, 2026 @02:35PM (#50060778)
Literally just airplane mode. It's ended up being a rather excellent privacy toggle that operating systems have to implement well.

GrapheneOS has "2G Network Protection" which prevents your phone from connecting to 2G networks and it also can notify you if your cellular identifiers were accessed.

https://www.cape.co seemed suspicious to me but apparently they actually do manage to make decent security improvements on the cellular stack. They also donate 100k/year to GrapheneOS [1] which is cool.

https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...

Re:Feds Got Warrants to Use Fake Cell Towers to Hunt Down Do... by gruez on Monday October 12, 2026 @03:30PM (#50061690)
>GrapheneOS has "2G Network Protection" which prevents your phone from connecting to 2G networks and it also can notify you if your cellular identifiers were accessed.

You should realistically be changing to it to "5G or LTE only", even better "5G only". The latter should provide complete protection from IMSI/IMEI sniffing by rogue base stations.

Re:Feds Got Warrants to Use Fake Cell Towers to Hunt Down Do... by joecool1029 on Monday October 12, 2026 @10:09PM (#50065716)
>The latter should provide complete protection from IMSI/IMEI sniffing by rogue base stations.

Only on SA and even there it is optional: https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/CSWP/NIST.CSWP.36A.pdf

Re:Feds Got Warrants to Use Fake Cell Towers to Hunt Down Do... by nosrepa on Tuesday October 13, 2026 @03:01PM (#50076869)
That is an android feature not specific to grapheneos
Re:Feds Got Warrants to Use Fake Cell Towers to Hunt Down Do... by robertlane0 on Monday October 12, 2026 @03:00PM (#50061149)
Yow, $70 a month is rather harsh. Honestly I'd rather just stick to Signal and avoid traditional calling/SMS and use HTTPS for everything over mobile data instead.
Re:Feds Got Warrants to Use Fake Cell Towers to Hunt Down Do... by mmooss on Monday October 12, 2026 @02:50PM (#50061012)
> Literally just airplane mode.

Almost everyone needs a solution that allows them to send and receive communication, including using the Internet, at arbitrary places and times.

> (Cape)

Cape is cofounded by Palantir alums; national security agencies are their main market. That doesn't condemn them - and it may speak to technical chops and requirements - though people should be informed so they can make their own decisions.

> They also donate 100k/year to GrapheneOS

Their valuation, as of this past March, is $900M [0]. GrapheneOS is mostly silent about donors and any arrangments with them, afaict.

[0] https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2026/03/19/ex-pa...

Re:Feds Got Warrants to Use Fake Cell Towers to Hunt Down Do... by johndoylecape on Monday October 12, 2026 @04:07PM (#50062232)
I appreciate this even handed take! Thanks
Re:Feds Got Warrants to Use Fake Cell Towers to Hunt Down Do... by inemesitaffia on Monday October 12, 2026 @05:24PM (#50063258)
Valuation has nothing to do with cash.
Re:Feds Got Warrants to Use Fake Cell Towers to Hunt Down Do... by jcomp on Monday October 12, 2026 @04:19PM (#50062422)
Lockdown Mode on iOS also disables 2G
Re:Feds Got Warrants to Use Fake Cell Towers to Hunt Down Do... by stusmall on Monday October 12, 2026 @05:47PM (#50063496)
>GrapheneOS has "2G Network Protection" which prevents your phone from connecting to 2G networks

This isn't just a GrapheneOS feature so you don't need a new ROM for it. Upstream Android provides this feature. Being enrolled in Google Advanced Protection program even forces it on. It is also available in iOS via Lockdown Mode. Just a great feature and I'm glad its broadly available.

Re:Feds Got Warrants to Use Fake Cell Towers to Hunt Down Do... by dylan604 on Monday October 12, 2026 @06:15PM (#50063833)
Where can you find a 2G Network that you need help in not connecting?
Re:Feds Got Warrants to Use Fake Cell Towers to Hunt Down Do... by toast0 on Tuesday October 13, 2026 @12:40AM (#50066805)
Near a stingray, presumably.