Major phone carriers like Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile actively track various key bits of information, including your internet activity, mobile app usage, location, and more. In fact, AT&T openly admits to collecting biometric data like facial ID and fingerprints, according to their privacy policy. Carriers claim that this helps them “improve” the customer experience, yet they often will sell this data to 3rd party companies. Some carriers will offer to get rid of the data that they have already collected on you, but not all data can be deleted since carriers keep some of it for legal obligations & billing.
There are some privacy sim cards that exist, but with them being in their early stages we haven’t tested them enough to be able to recommend any.If you subscribe to mobile data plans, your internet activity is sent through your carrier’s gateway, and they will be able to see the sites you visit. To avoid this, we recommend using a VPN like ProtonVPN. The same principle applies to SMS and phone calls. Sending a text message requires the data to be transmitted over your cellular carrier’s network, ultimately giving them access. If you are concerned about your carrier’s ability to see your messages, we recommend using a secure messaging app like Signal. Ultimately, if you are using Calyx or Graphene, then you are starting in the right place as it will limit the type of information your carrier can collect from you. As an additional note, you might want to check your carrier’s website to opt out of data collection policies. They will oftentimes provide you with a form, and once it is filled out, they will stop collecting. Whether or not they actually will, is something you have to consider. This does not apply for ALL data, so be sure to check your carrier’s data collection and privacy policy to see what they collect.