Cell Phone Privacy: Triangulation, SIM Swaps, IMSI Catchers, & More (Cape Interview)
Techlore Talks brings you in-depth conversations with the experts at the forefront of digital rights, privacy and security.
Most people think turning off location services protects them from being tracked. It doesn't. In this interview, David Dunn from privacy-focused cellular provider Cape breaks down what carriers actually collect, how threats like IMSI catchers and SIM swaps work, and how Cape is building a mobile network specifically designed to minimize that exposure.
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Episode Timestamps
00:00:00 INTRO
00:01:01 WHAT CELLULAR CARRIERS SEE
00:02:50 THE CONCERNS
00:04:08 ABUSE OF DATA
00:05:28 LTT SIM SWAP ATTACK
00:06:33 PHONE CALL BEHIND-THE-SCENES
00:12:24 CELL TOWER TRIANGULATION & GEOFENCING
00:15:32 LOCATION SERVICES
00:16:25 CALL DATA & SMS RECORDS
00:19:24 SMS VS. EMAIL SECURITY
00:20:23 SIM SWAPPING + IMSI CATCHERS
00:24:09 CELL TOWER TRIANGULATION + GEOFENCING SOLUTIONS
00:26:38 CALL DATA RECORD + SMS SOLUTIONS
00:28:48 WI-FI CALLING
00:30:54 SS7 SIGNALING ATTACK PROTECTION
00:32:25 4G VS. 5G PRIVACY
00:36:34 USER AGENTS + CUSTOM ROMS
00:42:15 DEVICE PROTECTION
00:46:06 CAPE'S APPROACH
00:55:01 MOBILE CORE
00:59:18 CDR DELETION
01:00:06 IMSI ROTATION
01:00:52 OTHER USER CONFIGURABLE OPTIONS
01:04:05 PHONE NUMBER REPUTATION
01:05:29 ISSUES WITH PRIVACY TOOLS
01:08:22 OBSCURA
01:10:48 REGISTRATION
01:13:04 TRUST & VERIFICATION
01:15:37 COMPATIBILITY
01:17:33 AVAILABILITY
01:17:54 ROAMING
01:18:36 LAW ENFORCEMENT REQUESTS
01:21:15 PALANTIR
01:23:25 PROTON PARTNERSHIP
01:25:05 WHO IS CAPE FOR?
01:26:43 TELL US SOMETHING SHOCKING
01:29:28 OUTRO
Episode Sources
• Cape: https://www.cape.co
• Cape + Proton collab: https://www.cape.co/cape-and-proton
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