<div dir="ltr"><div>Hi Bill,</div><div>Yes, my categorical statement of your "error" was too harsh, so sorry about that :-)</div><div>It is a worry, ie, the growing need for authentication and app use you cite, and why I carry a tablet VERY occasionally when I suspect a need for a better screen experience without the smartphone. <br></div><div>But, getting back to Margeret's stated need, I see a feature phone serving all her needs in a candybar or flip-phone format with large buttons and a small screen. These are still readily available at many retailers. </div><div>:-)</div><div>Gavin<br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, 1 Jan 2024 at 16:26, William Kenworthy <<a href="mailto:billk@iinet.net.au">billk@iinet.net.au</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">I dont see it as wrong as some of the entities I have dealt with in the <br>
last 6 months are getting beyond allowing simple acccess - and this <br>
applies especially if you are looking to the future - as of now you are <br>
already mentioning having to enable browsers and functions beyond the <br>
basic sms auth codes that were mentioned. Its only going to get worse! <br>
My point is that if you get a too low end phone, its just not going to <br>
be adequate in the (near) future.<br>
<br>
BillK<br>
<br>
<br>
On 1/1/24 15:57, gavinwc wrote:<br>
> Sorry, Bill but you're wrong. See my posting that would just have come <br>
> through :-)<br>
> <br>
> Best regards,<br>
> Gavin<br>
> <br>
> On Mon, 1 Jan 2024 at 15:53, William Kenworthy <<a href="mailto:billk@iinet.net.au" target="_blank">billk@iinet.net.au</a> <br>
> <mailto:<a href="mailto:billk@iinet.net.au" target="_blank">billk@iinet.net.au</a>>> wrote:<br>
> <br>
> Hi Margaret, I am thinking you have left it too late to get a dumb<br>
> phone. Some of the financial entities I deal with now require an<br>
> authenticator app to deal with logins and I can see plain sms 2 factor<br>
> auth going away at some point - some still have it as optional or<br>
> use it<br>
> as well, but its changing. The auth app uses a closed system to verify<br>
> its really you/your device being used by you. Some apps also check the<br>
> phone to make sure its up to date etc. Google/MS/Apple are also<br>
> inserting themselves into this process as they see a financial benefit<br>
> (to them) as well as the improved security. Even dealing with<br>
> mygov/centrelink (via their apps) is getting irksome. Its fast<br>
> becoming<br>
> a case of participating or being sidelined and have to move to Tasmania<br>
> ** :(<br>
> <br>
> BillK<br>
> <br>
> * a trip to India in December was an eye opener - to get two sim cards<br>
> valid for 1 month took an hour and a half with photographs of us,<br>
> passports and visas being sent via the shop assistants smart phone to<br>
> the InGov servers. The shop assistant had to photograph us to<br>
> verify us<br>
> against the passport/evisa data they hold from our entry into the<br>
> country, then use the selfie mode every step to confirm by photo<br>
> that it<br>
> was them using their phone. A long, painful, slow and error prone<br>
> process - but no simcard unless you do it. And to add to the weirdness<br>
> of it, there had to be physical printouts of the electronic<br>
> documents to<br>
> go on file as well! 1984 anyone!<br>
> <br>
> ** Apologies to Tasmanians!<br>
> <br>
> <br>
> On 1/1/24 14:33, Daniel wrote:<br>
> > Hi Margaret<br>
> > If you get a cheap smart phone and turn wifi and data off … I<br>
> think you still get text messages but not fancy ones with pictures<br>
> and I suspect that stops voip with faked numbers?<br>
> ><br>
> > Will you just get a number and not a url for authentication?<br>
> ><br>
> > Is that adequate security that would allow you to confidently get<br>
> a low priced smartphone (sold without updating the operating system<br>
> and already out of date and despite suggestions that security would<br>
> be enhanced many may never get updates made for it let alone made<br>
> available )?<br>
> ><br>
> > You may be quite sensibly flinching at the cost of a smart phone<br>
> you don’t intend to use much …<br>
> ><br>
> > Daniel<br>
> ><br>
> ><br>
> >> On 1 Jan 2024, at 11:53, M S R Wood <<a href="mailto:msrwood@gmail.com" target="_blank">msrwood@gmail.com</a><br>
> <mailto:<a href="mailto:msrwood@gmail.com" target="_blank">msrwood@gmail.com</a>>> wrote:<br>
> >><br>
> >> I don't want a smart phone, but I have reluctantly decided it<br>
> is time<br>
> >> for me to get a moblle phone. The main reason is to receive<br>
> codes from<br>
> >> banks and other organisations who think this is the best/only method<br>
> >> of two-factor authentication. I only expect to make outgoing<br>
> calls in<br>
> >> a emergency (e.g. car breakdown), and will hardly ever send texts.<br>
> >><br>
> >> So my ideal phone would be voice calls and text only - no<br>
> internet, no<br>
> >> apps, no camera, no torch, no music. It would have keys/buttons<br>
> rather<br>
> >> than a touchscreen, and a display in muted colours - preferably text<br>
> >> only, rather than icons. That's probably impossible to find<br>
> nowadays,<br>
> >> but is there anything that comes close?<br>
> >><br>
> >> I'm also looking for a low cost, pre-paid phone plan, where unused<br>
> >> credit lasts as long as possible,<br>
> >><br>
> >> Any recommendations?<br>
> >><br>
> >> Margaret<br>
> >> _______________________________________________<br>
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