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Inside the U.S. Government-Bought Tool That Can Track Phones at Abortion Clinics (www.404media.co)

submitted 5 days ago by otter@lemmy.ca to c/technology@lemmy.world

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Privacy advocates got access to Locate X, a phone tracking tool which multiple U.S. agencies have bought access to, and showed me and other journalists exactly what it was capable of. Tracking a phone from one state to another to an abortion clinic. Multiple places of worship. A school. Following a likely juror to a residence. And all of this tracking is possible without a warrant, and instead just a few clicks of a mouse.

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[–] Trainguyrom@reddthat.com 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

The IMEI can't be changed. That's the serial number of the cellular modem

Edit: reviewing the link you shared in another comment that looks plausible. Just be warned good luck on any kind of warranty or insurance claims if you change IMEIs. I used to work for a cell phone manufacturer and we used the IMEI to both identify roughly when the device was purchased to make determining warranty status dead simple, and to identify devices as they went through the repair process.

Additionally carriers will often blacklist IMEIs for activation (usually on devices which were financed but never paid off) so that's another potential opportunity for trouble

[–] LunarVoyager@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Meh, the pixel 6a is pretty cheap. Warranty and creature comforts are for the daily driver.

Edit: I should add, there are a few mobile hotspots that officially support changing the IMEI

link