Privacy

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Creating dummy Google accounts (lemmy.world)

submitted 6 months ago by OnePhoenix@lemmy.world to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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I use GrapheneOS ony phone and a Mac with the security options as optimized as possible. For most of my emailing etc, I use Tuta and Proton. There are instances however, where having a Google account is beneficial (some apps for example won't download from Aurora store in anonymous mode).

Is it advisable/possible to create a dummy Google account with minimal ID/credentials? And if so, what are some best practices for doing so?

Or, do I resign myself to the fact that with more control over my data, I have to sacrifice more?

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[–] OnePhoenix@lemmy.world 0 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Where I am, its perfectly legal to purchase a one time sim card. You can walk into the corner store, purchase a prepaid visa (with cash), and buy a sim card (with cash) at the same store. You can then go online, enter the sim card number into the site, add your prepaid visa as payment and whatever details you want. I've done it before and there is no ID verification whatsoever - I literally put in John Smith and it worked... As long as they have payment up front, I guess they don't care. If I'm just using it for one time account verification, I'm not really worried about keeping the sim card long term.

[–] mox@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

I’ve done it before and there is no ID verification whatsoever

Many such places will have footage of you making the purchase, and some will have a record of your mobile phone's presence. This might not matter to most people, but whistleblowers (and anyone else who might be targeted by government or law enforcement) ought to think carefully before assuming they're safely anonymous.

[–] OnePhoenix@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

I was referring more to ID required for the sim card set up but, you bring up a good point, there will always be video surveillance. I'm also looking at this more from a privacy perspective, and less from a secrecy or detection perspective so I have no real concerns that a government agency will be trying to track me down.