Is it a good enough solution for IMEI tracking to use an alternative device to provide a hotspot connection?
This approach appears to protect any new device that hasn’t inserted a SIM card from being identified.
But I’m not sure how much information is carried to the second device by using hotspot.
Is this a good solution so far? Should I try to spoof IMEI?
You should also beware that if you use the Google Play stuff for push notifications to work (even sandboxed afaik) it will include the IMEI in the payload when it phones home to Google.
by push notifications to work you mean?
Sandboxed Google Play is only considered an app in GrapheneOS. It shouldn’t have direct access to the IMEI number unless it’s explicitly granted permission.
I remember it being explained in the GrapheneOS FAQ that only the OS and the phone (dialer) app have access to the IMEI number. However, I’m not an expert, so I can’t say for sure.
Could you please provide a link that confirms whether sandboxed Google Play or any app has direct access to the IMEI number? Thanks a lot!
It’s possible that I’m mistaken. I’ve seen it claimed that it still has the IMEI, but that might be inaccurate, and I don’t know exactly where I saw it. I’ve never seen an explicit claim that it does not before now, so I’m not sure who is correct.
right then hopefully someone could see this post and confirm