Now’s Probably The Time To Consider One Of These Burner Phones by Paul Sarconi.
From the post:
WE’RE LIVING IN a new era of political unpredictability. Who knows what race, religious group, or professional sector will be scrutinized tomorrow? If you’re concerned that your devices will be targeted for confiscation and search, heed caution now. Start carrying a burner phone—a handset you can wipe clean and destroy without much thought. We’ve rounded up some good options.
One note: The point of using a burner is to avoid leaving a trace of your phone activity. Our list of recommended phones (and one app!) comes with links to online retailers so you can read more about the devices, but if you’re trying to stay private, you should buy both the phone and a pre-paid data allotment with cash. Most of these handsets (and the prepaid cards) are available at big-box stores here and abroad.
… (emphasis in original)
If your privacy matters, burner phones are in your present and future.
Quite recently I was creating an account at a hacker site that required, required mind you, a cellphone number for authentication.
That’s crazy. Why would I want to label myself with my cellphone number in a hacker forum? Not today, not tomorrow, not any day.
So, Paul’s list comes at an opportune time.
A word of caution about the Burner App.
It’s true you can delete the Burner App temporary phone number from your phone but Burner App maintains a copy of that number with your account. In case you want to “reactivate” the number.
Trusting a third party is a poor opening move in learning to protect your privacy.
Buy a debit card for cash and use a fake identity with Burner App.