Hey, howdy, hallo,
I’m sending this month’s newsletter a bit early because I wanted to announce a Q&A livestream that will take place on Monday, July 20th, with spring-onion from the GrapheneOS team. If you can’t make it, the recording will be available shortly after.
Details:
YouTube stream - https://youtube.com/live/56-DCAHU29Y
Self-hosted Owncast stream - https://sideofburritos.com/live/
Monday, July 20, 2026
| Time zone | 24-hour | 12-hour |
|---|---|---|
| PDT (US Pacific Daylight Time) | 10:00 | 10:00 AM |
| EDT (US Eastern Daylight Time) | 13:00 | 1:00 PM |
| UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) | 17:00 | 5:00 PM |
| BST (British Summer Time) | 18:00 | 6:00 PM |
| CEST (Central European Summer Time) | 19:00 | 7:00 PM |
Hope to "see" you there!
Now, back to the newsletter.
When it comes to privacy and security services, I try to test as many as possible. Not because I plan to use them all, but because I like to have options. What prompted this topic for me was the FCC in the United States proposing KYC (Know Your Customer) requirements for phone providers.
This is just a proposal in the US (other countries already have mandates like this), but there’s a chance it passes, and anyone in the US will need to KYC themselves to signing up for new service or renewing.
Now let me be clear: anything that involves a unique identifier that cannot easily be changed and whose privacy is dependent on others (email address, phone number) is not anonymous in my book. I know some people like to talk about obtaining anonymous phone numbers and using them for their daily needs, but that use case has to be very specific. Maybe you only plan to give that number out to friends and family who sync their contacts with Apple, Google, and Meta; control of it is now out of your hands, and it’s no longer anonymous. That number is now in their contacts and associated with your name, along with any other information they have saved about you. Besides that, the second you make a call or send a text, patterns and metadata trails are established, and that number will start to be more and more associated with you.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t things you can do to increase cell service privacy. But what I want to talk about today is how you need to start getting comfortable NOW with the things you can do before these privacy-invasive mandates start affecting you.
Crypto matters here because some privacy-focused services allow you to pay without attaching a conventional payment method (credit card) to the account.
I have mixed feelings on crypto. On one hand, there are a TON of grifters in the crypto space (NFTs, for one). But if you sift through the grift, there are some real benefits to cryptocurrencies. One example is more private purchases with XMR (Monero). Maybe you need a data-only eSIM. Silent.link is a great option for that, and you can easily pay with Monero. I’m not going to cover obtaining crypto here or how to use it. But if you’re looking for a great place to start, check out Cake Wallet and KYCnot.me.
I think crypto is going to be a gateway to reducing the impact of some of these laws as they go into effect.
I think VoIP, or Voice over IP, is the best (current) solution to cellular tracking. Typically, when you make a phone call, you use your carrier’s network, and your device’s IMEI, your subscription’s IMSI, and other unique identifiers, are directly associated with the activity. With VoIP, your calls and SMS only require a data connection to work. That means you can connect to Wi-Fi and make calls and send texts as you normally would with the VoIP app. And if you need to do that when you’re away from a Wi-Fi signal, you can get a data-only eSIM and still stay connected. The benefit is that the unique identifier (phone number) is no longer directly associated with your cellular connections. Yes, the IMEI, IMSI, etc. will still be broadcast to the providers, but now they’re only associated with an eSIM that you paid for with crypto. Is it perfect? No. But it’s a hell of a lot better than your typical setup.
Like I mentioned earlier, the second you start using your phone number, it’s associated with you. So yes, this VoIP number will be associated with you, but you’ve gained a massive amount of privacy with it. All activity related to that number is taking place over data and a VPN if you choose to use one. To be clear, I in no way support KYC’ing to get access to a phone number. But if I’m forced to, I think this is the best way to combat it.
This is the current setup I use, and it works great. There are a few limitations with VoIP numbers…but they aren’t as common as you might think. This setup does not make you anonymous, since VoIP providers still keep logs, but it separates your phone number from your cellular subscription and makes it harder to tie your calls and texts to nearby cell towers.
A couple of VoIP providers to get you started:
VoIP is just one example of what you can do to improve your privacy and prepare for what’s coming. If you made it here and are still reading, my goal with this month’s email is to get you to start looking now. Maybe you already live in a place that enforces KYC for phone numbers; there are still options. And if it isn’t currently required where you live, this is the best time to test them. At your own pace instead of rushing when a deadline is approaching. Either way, stay curious.
I hope you had/are having a great July, and I’ll see you in August!
-Josh
If you’re looking for a fun daily puzzle game, here you go.
Installing OpenWrt on the GL.iNet Beryl 7 Travel Router
How to Flash Stock Android on Google Pixel
A few things I make and work on:
Membership Site — Bonus content, monthly livestream Q&A, and more.
Consulting — Personalized help for individuals and teams.
Yellowball — Podcast hosting. No BS, no tracking.
"Simple things should be simple, complex things should be possible."
— Alan Kay