December 16, 2021
11:20 AM ET

AT&T has been covertly collecting phone data. Phone carriers know more about you than they let on.

?

Didi Rankovic

AT&T, the biggest US mobile carrier and the world’s largest telecommunications company has a special, secretive feature that enables SIM cards it issues to send SMS messages back to the AT&T “mothership” – unbeknownst to the user of a device, while in no manner affected by them.

In a way, the device is also “unaware” that this is happening, since the practice is “silent” and leaves no trace on the phone itself.

Become a Member and Keep Reading…

Reclaim your digital freedom. Get the latest on censorship, cancel culture, and surveillance, and learn how to fight back.

Already a supporter? Sign In.

Read Next

Australia’s Senate Orders Release of eSafety Censorship Emails

Read the story →

More you should know:

Close-up of a weathered, cracked Statue of Liberty face in dramatic low-key lighting with its mouth tightly bound by a frayed blue band patterned with yellow stars, the fabric's texture and chipped paint clearly visible against a black background.

The Free Speech Standoff That’s Fracturing the Atlantic

A black-screen smartphone centered on a red, stippled background crowded with multiple large black-and-white eyes and curving red shapes.

Your Phone Isn’t Safe at the Border. Warrantless Phone Searches Hit Record High.

Stylized Earth showing North and South America formed from thousands of blue and orange streaks and glowing particles radiating outward against a black background.

DNS Becomes a Tool of Digital Rebellion: From Internet Infrastructure to Privacy Weapon

Students seated at desks using laptops and facing a blank projection screen in a classroom, shown from behind with colorful digital glitch overlays.

School Surveillance Is Criminalizing Speech

High-contrast red-and-black graphic of a dense city skyline centered on the Empire State Building, with a large surveillance camera in the upper-right corner overlooking the streets below.

The “Free” Internet That Was Bait For Mass Surveillance

Close-up of a weathered, cracked Statue of Liberty face in dramatic low-key lighting with its mouth tightly bound by a frayed blue band patterned with yellow stars, the fabric's texture and chipped paint clearly visible against a black background.

The Free Speech Standoff That’s Fracturing the Atlantic

A black-screen smartphone centered on a red, stippled background crowded with multiple large black-and-white eyes and curving red shapes.

Your Phone Isn’t Safe at the Border. Warrantless Phone Searches Hit Record High.

Stylized Earth showing North and South America formed from thousands of blue and orange streaks and glowing particles radiating outward against a black background.

DNS Becomes a Tool of Digital Rebellion: From Internet Infrastructure to Privacy Weapon

Students seated at desks using laptops and facing a blank projection screen in a classroom, shown from behind with colorful digital glitch overlays.

School Surveillance Is Criminalizing Speech

High-contrast red-and-black graphic of a dense city skyline centered on the Empire State Building, with a large surveillance camera in the upper-right corner overlooking the streets below.

The “Free” Internet That Was Bait For Mass Surveillance

Futuristic surveillance control room with dozens of blue-lit monitors and workstations arranged around a massive glowing blue iris mural dominating the back wall, with visible cables, swivel chairs, and server racks.

How Conversations You Never Shared With AI Can Still Land in the Laps of Offshore Contractors