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Can you be tracked for marketing purposes on a "dumb-phone"? (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
12 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I'm aware that carrying a phone means that I can be tracked with cell towers and that's fine.

But is there some sort of tracking that can be done on modern dumb-phones that make relevant ads show up(on spotify/youtube) that are based on where the phone has been?

Thanks I'm a newb

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[-] [email protected] 23 points 3 days ago

Even with a dumb phone, they have

  • Your identity, IE real name and address.
  • Location history
  • Contacts (since you're forced to use SMS)
  • Message history in plain text

So I don't doubt that they're at least aggregating message history and selling data/trends about certain topics to advertisers and anyone who will buy it.

Plus if they know that your most contacted person is also texting/searching about certain things, they can safely sell that also and present ads to you based on their interests.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago

The data-point that someone is using a dumbphone or actively trying to minimise/restrict profiling is a very important and valuable profiling data-point itself.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

If your this concerned with tracking I think you want to take a look at the LoRa mesh network/devices.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago

Unlikely, but possible. Ad networks might buy location history data from cell providers.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago

The short answer is yes, absolutely.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago

Does it have bluetooth and wifi?

does it run corpo apps?

[-] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

Is there a dumb phone not made by a corporation?

[-] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

Go pagers and payphones. Jump the 5.

[-] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago

I would unironically love if there were enough people in my life that also wanted to live that way to make it viable... Also the lack of functioning payphones these days would be challenging.

The place (at least in the USA) where I've found the most functional-looking payphones was actually Hawaii... And even then, so many are decaying and non-functional. I've had a silly idea to go back and just roam around and photograph as many as I can.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago

If a device connects to another device/network then your data can be taken and used.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

I've read in the past that Google makes the OS for some flip phones, so yes. You could get a Punkt dumb phone that shouldn't spy on you

[-] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago

You could get a Punkt dumb phone that shouldn’t spy on you

From Punkt FAQ: Verizon: not supported/not supported

Sadly, that keeps a ton of people from using the phone. In many rural areas, VZW is the only coverage that they can get.

this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2025
45 points (100.0% liked)

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