Welcome to Nosy Eye. The newsletter that makes learning about privacy fun & easy.

Here’s what we got for you today:

• How to buy a mobile phone without it being attached to your identity

• Action Tip of the Day

How to Buy A Phone in Private

First things first, you should always use cash for transactions regarding your phone purchase. It’s the most difficult form of payment to trace back to you.

There are other ways, but that’s for another day. Just don’t use a credit card or have it shipped to your home.

To start, you'll need to obtain a factory unlocked mobile phone. Ideally you buy it from a physical retail store.

Bonus points if you wear a face mask for added privacy when making the purchase (something you can get away with these days).

Be sure to put your phone in a Faraday bag when you're not using it to avoid your location from being tracked.

Your new phone should have a privacy-intended operating system like Graphene or Calyx OS installed on it. Perform the software installations and similar operations at a location you normally don’t visit.

Once all the installation is complete, turn the phone off and put it back in the Faraday bag until next use.

Before signing up with a mobile carrier, get a SIM card that fits your device.

It should be from a pre-paid service provider like AT&T or T-Mobile so you can use a prepaid plan and not be locked into long-term plans.

This also allows you to bring your own device to the carrier store without the need for a credit check that would tie your identity to the phone.

Choose a carrier store that isn’t within your locality. Give them any name you want when signing up since you're paying up front.

NOTE: You may need to visit multiple stores or providers to find exactly what you're looking for. Don’t worry too much if you make a mistake. You can simply try again at a different store.

Action Tip of the Day

Get a Faraday Bag.

A Faraday bag is similar to a Faraday Cage, except you can carry it with you. They block out radio waves from leaving and reaching the electronic devices you place inside, rendering them as bricks.

This means if you put your phone inside. Callers will be sent straight to voicemail. That Find My iPhone feature isn’t going to work. Nothing is reaching the device until it’s out of the bag.

It’s like airplane mode on steroids. They’re great when you want to ensure certain situations remain as private as possible.

These bags come in varying sizes to accommodate anything between a key fob to full-blown laptops.

That's all we have for you today. There's plenty more, of course. If there’s something you want us to cover in a future letter. Don’t be shy. Let us know and we’ll get to work for you.

Anyways, bye for now.

DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is strictly educational. Please do not use easily identifiable data online, as you do not know who is going to give it away