[off-topic] Dumb mobile phones

[William Kenworthy]

Hi Margaret, I am thinking you have left it too late to get a dumb 
phone. Some of the financial entities I deal with now require an 
authenticator app to deal with logins and I can see plain sms 2 factor 
auth going away at some point - some still have it as optional or use it 
as well, but its changing.  The auth app uses a closed system to verify 
its really you/your device being used by you. Some apps also check the 
phone to make sure its up to date etc. Google/MS/Apple are also 
inserting themselves into this process as they see a financial benefit 
(to them) as well as the improved security.  Even dealing with 
mygov/centrelink (via their apps) is getting irksome.  Its fast becoming 
a case of participating or being sidelined and have to move to Tasmania 
** :(

BillK

* a trip to India in December was an eye opener - to get two sim cards 
valid for 1 month took an hour and a half with photographs of us, 
passports and visas being sent via the shop assistants smart phone to 
the InGov servers.  The shop assistant had to photograph us to verify us 
against the passport/evisa data they hold from our entry into the 
country, then use the selfie mode every step to confirm by photo that it 
was them using their phone.  A long, painful, slow and error prone 
process - but no simcard unless you do it. And to add to the weirdness 
of it, there had to be physical printouts of the electronic documents to 
go on file as well!  1984 anyone!

** Apologies to Tasmanians!


On 1/1/24 14:33, Daniel wrote:
> Hi Margaret
> If you get a cheap smart phone and turn wifi and data off … I think you still get text messages but not fancy ones with pictures and I suspect that stops voip with faked numbers?
> 
> Will you just get a number and not a url for authentication?
> 
> Is that adequate security that would allow you to confidently get a low priced smartphone (sold without updating the operating system and already out of date and despite suggestions that security would be enhanced many may never get updates made for it let alone made available )?
> 
> You may be quite sensibly flinching at the cost of a smart phone you don’t intend to use much  …
> 
> Daniel
> 
> 
>> On 1 Jan 2024, at 11:53, M S R Wood <msrwood at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I don't want a smart phone, but I have reluctantly decided it is time
>> for me to get a moblle phone. The main reason is to receive codes from
>> banks and other organisations who think this is the best/only method
>> of two-factor authentication. I only expect to make outgoing calls in
>> a emergency (e.g. car breakdown), and will hardly ever send texts.
>>
>> So my ideal phone would be voice calls and text only - no internet, no
>> apps, no camera, no torch, no music. It would have keys/buttons rather
>> than a touchscreen, and a display in muted colours - preferably text
>> only, rather than icons. That's probably impossible to find nowadays,
>> but is there anything that comes close?
>>
>> I'm also looking for a low cost, pre-paid phone plan, where unused
>> credit lasts as long as possible,
>>
>> Any recommendations?
>>
>> Margaret
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