Silk Road forums
Discussion => Security => Topic started by: techmo on November 11, 2012, 04:28 am
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Hello SR!
My question is about pay-as-you-go data sticks. I know of at least one mobile carrier who offers these and they can be purchased with cash. No ID required. Seems like a great way to further distance oneself from online activities.
The cost of a stick is ~$40 plus $15 monthly for 1GB (which is likely sufficient for SR/forums browsing). Pretty cheap considering it gives you Internet access anywhere with an added layer of anonymity.
Data sticks are naturally symbiotic with our needs for a couple other reasons;
1. Data usage over TOR is already best kept to minimum to avoid straining the system
2. Disposable - If you're ever in a high-heat situation you can toss the stick and there is no association with you and that Internet connection
3. Not tied to a fixed address (with the added bonus of mobility)
Can anyone comment on this?
[My first post btw.. Happy to be a part of the SR community and hope it's back up soon!!]
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If you can do this all with cash and no ID, you're one step better than using your home connection, however, these devices use cell phone technology, so your relative position may be logged by the service provider whenever you access the device. This wouldn't really matter, unless your IP address was to be somehow leaked to authorities, who could get a warrant for the records from the provider and be that much closer to you.
Far fetched, but easily done if the desire was there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone_tracking
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Thanks for the reply, comatose.
So because a data stick has no GPS capability, for someone to find my location they'd have to use complicated triangulation techniques which would only give an approximate location and could only be done while the stick is transmitting data.
This is quite reassuring! Beats the hell out of sitting in a Star Bucks or using a DSL/cable connection registered to my name. :)