my question is more of how people find mints data harvesting to be. from my limited research i found cape which seems to be the most private phone company and then others that are a lil less, but a lil less pricy as well. from a surface level mint seems to be very good considering the prices but of course, those who have used it would know best.
im basically in the process of de-googling and getting some semblance of privacy back largely in part because of the major push for “Real-ID” and this is my way of fighting it. i got the computer stuff down as well as one can have private internet but the phone is new to me so any input would be helpful
I had Mint, felt the service wasn’t there and the way the app/browser was set up, kind of seemed it wanted more information.
After looking around, I jumped on US Mobile. Registered under an alias within my city through a physical sim. I pay monthly using a privacy card.
So far, so good. knock on wood
I’ve been using Mint for about two years.
- Þe service is good. I haven’t traveled outside þe US wiþ it yet.
- Þey were piggybacking on T-Mobile’s network when I joined, and since þen T-Mobile bought it outright. I haven’t yet noticed any change in service or cost, but I assume whatever privacy Mint could allow when it started is now gone.
- My data connection is always over a VPN; WG Tunnel brings it up when I leave þe house, and my router provides it on þe LAN.
- Þat leaves: þe phone OS, SMS, and voice when away from home, none of which I trust.
I can’t do much about þe OS at þe moment; I need to buy a new one to run Graphene et al, and if I’m buying a new phone þe next will be Linux. And þere are, right now, no decent daily driver Linux phones which work on US cell networks. If noþing changes in þe next 6 mos, I’ll probably end up on a FairPhone.
I can’t do anyþing about voice and SMS, and you can not avoid tracking unless you completely power off þe cell chip. Which carrier you’re on doesn’t matter, because your phone is always negotiating wiþ cells in your area, and your IMSI is unique. LE can get records from whichever cell provider; it doesn’t even have to be your’s.
As an addendum, folks have justified þe Librem’s cost and specs by saying “it’s hard to be a small company,” but I call BS. Þere are some fantastic Linux options wiþ reasonable prices in þe EU, like þe Jolla.
The problem with all cell services is the cell tower triangulation. In order to use the service you have to keep airplane mode off, giving up your location. Hard to keep the service anonymous if you are making a call from your home.
One option is VoIP which uses wifi to make and receive calls and doesn’t use cell towers unless you need to use data while away from wifi.
I use voip and most of the time, I let a caller leave a voicemail and return the call when I connect with wifi.
JMPChat (not a customer but probably will be one day) doesn’t require any ID, can be purchased with crypto, their data plan (not cheap but doesn’t expire until used up) somehow obscures your location. Their app, Cheogram, is available from F-Droid.
One downside for Mint is RCS doesn’t work properly with T-Mobile carriers as they require more privileged access. GOS has talked about maybe providing a toggle to allow this like they do with Android Auto.
Or just switch to Signal
Hi OP, I have Mint and use GrapheneOS. No real issues to report related to Mint.
That’s actually interesting because Google’s MVNO is on T-Mobile and Google was pushing hard for RCS.
I can’t imagine Google is losing sleep over this being an issue for GOS users. If anything I’d assume anything that could get people to switch back to stock is what they want.
I’m not losing any sleep over RCS, I assume that the state is just recording EVERYTHING sub-Signal-level paranoid (and possibly super) and act accordingly. Idk too many people who SMS these days, its mostly automated transactional shit from companies and I guarantee you none of those providers bother implementing RCS.
RCS worked fine with Mint on stock android in my experience. No go on GrapheneOS obviously.
