Is there the GSM equivalent of a VPN? Seems like you
could set up a public rotating proxy pretty easily with
Asterix + DIDx..
Just dial 1-900-MIX-ALOT - get a tone, enter the actual
recipient number, get connected through another exit point..
It used to be the case that people would hack PBXs and dial them
in a sequence. Feels like a lost art. =/
As for burner phones now, $10 in cash will get you a phone with
ten minutes of talk time already on it. Another $20 will buy you an
hour's worth of time, and so on. No ID required. The idea that
people are paying $75 for a burner phone, only to totally misuse it,
is annoying. Ideally, burner phones would be both disposable and
used only for talking with <4 other burner phones which *also*
only communicate with that same group of phones. But even then,
it's problematic to say the least.
Social graphing cell phone users is extremely useful. Think of
your own phone habits. Who do you call? An average person might
call their boyfriend, their best friend, their office, and maybe
order a pizza. So how many people call those four numbers? How
many people call *one* of those numbers? Less than ten on a regular
basis? Also, this basic social graphing doesn't even take into
account one's location. Steve Rambam has had a lot of great things
to say about this as well:
http://vimeo.com/21590213
(from Last Hope)
And that's how people get caught being "anonymous" with cell
phones.