Trying to fight it takes an enormous amount of time and energy. I carry two phones now - since I have my "privacy" enabled phone that basically has nothing on it. Email, messages, weather app and a few privacy enabled browsers. My other phone has all my "faux" google stuff on it. Maps, gmail, banking apps, my authenticator apps, music apps, etc.

Even then, these can all be tied together fairly easy, but just trying to make it harder to keep my data private is such a battle; and friends always ask me why I spend so much time trying to keep myself anonymous when in 2026 its virtually impossible to do so.

I always tell them: “Bene vixit, bene qui latuit.” (To live well is to live concealed.)

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jacquesm an hour ago | parent | next [-]

If two phones both carry enabled GPS and/or have NFC or bluetooth switched on then it is very easy to match them.

	▲	InsidiousWombat 18 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Nothing like that is required, if you see them on same mobile tower or wifi networks often enough you can say with huge certainty they are owned by same individual. Basically any piece of information that can be correlated is enough once you have enough data points. Hell, you could probably figure out a way to correlate it by temperature sensor readings

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Waterluvian 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

This all sounds completely sensible. And yet, being caught by the police with two phones would probably be a big stupid red flag for them.

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mixdup 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Having two phones is more common than you think, and has a very plausible explanation even if it's not true for the particular individual: One is my work phone, issued by my company, other one is mine

That happens all the time

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pessimizer 5 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

I feel like BYOD was when the disease accelerated. It was the coup excuse for everybody and their mother to own a piece of your personal phone. Bank apps not working with rooted phones is pretty much BYOD 2.0.

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m463 33 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Separation of church and state goes way back, maybe before the iphone.

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noah_buddy 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Unless you’re clever about setting up the phones to match your excuse, you are now lying to the police as well.

	▲	SllX 4 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Follow the usernames in the response chain. I have two phones for the exact same reason as well: work issued & personal. It would hold up just because it’s actually true. There’s no need to arrange anything beyond how they are naturally arranged.
	▲	achenet 3 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		I think this is the time to share this classic PSA about why you should always exercise your right to silence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7o9xYp7eE
	▲	Brian_K_White 3 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		It's crazy that the police can lie to you. By rights the simple comeback is they can lie to you so F'em. The real answer is you don't offer any explaination because it's not something you need to explain or get anyone's permission for. Feel free to wonder. Give me a hard time and I'll just do my best to give you a hard time back. After you confiscate my stuff and detain me and I turn out not to have broken any laws, I'll do everything I can think of to extract an apology and compensation and penalty. Afro Man is my hero. You will become my new career. That's my little fantasy anyway but I do see it as a duty to at least resist a little. In reality I'll fold pretty easy but I will be as much sand in the gears as I can.
	▲	bryanrasmussen 3 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		depending on where you are it may be legal to lie to the police.
	▲	Teever 3 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Incorporate and have the phone be owned by your corporation. You're a contractor who separates business from pleasure.

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Benard-dev 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

In Uganda carrying two phones is completely normal. Many people have one for work and one for personal use, or simply because they can afford a second phone. Police wouldn't think twice about it.

	▲	lostlogin 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		40 minutes, and not a single ‘I’m moving to Uganda’ message.

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kainovak 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

[flagged]