Post #1973157

> Can this be true if you use a device without any connection to the internet and no SIM card? You've got the idea. There's a bunch to unpack here: + If the device is truly offline, your privacy is okay. + But there's lots of ugly ways vendors work around "being offline" + Denying the device a SIM card means the device is not authorized to get online, but certain emergency services that require a network will work anyway. The SIM is to make sure we're paying to be online, and is otherwise not actually needed to connect. > I mean could a hardware connect to some kind of network to send private information? If you're asking if it is possible to hide a secret antennae in an officially offline device, yes, absolutely. I've heard privacy nerds theorize that these will become common in smart TVs, so the TV can phone the vendor with screenshots, even (especially) when playing pirated local media. > Because the basic thing is, it won't expose your data if doesn't leave your phone, right? Exactly. And you've also caught the tricky bit - it's hard to be 100% sure a device isn't phoning home if the device is a closed proprietary (secret) design, running closed proprietary (secret) software.