this post was submitted on 26 May 2025
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Privacy
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So device id is one piece of the puzzle, among other ways of getting your location and address.
However with that in mind here is why I would particularly try to hide the device id.
It never changes, your IP address can change based off of the network you are on which is particularly good for cellular connection. However using a VPN is still better.
To my knowledge they couldn't just get your location form device id itself, however device id and IP address are part of the collection they are aiming to grab. As I said, if you forget to check if your VPN is on, then they can collect your IP address/location separately from your device id.
Do cover up anything and everything you can. Not because it gives additional info, but every new thing is just another piece of the equation.
Can I force it to change or spoof it? VPN may sometimes break connection out of nowhere, I hardly have this experience on PC but on mobile it just seems to occur a lot more often
One final detail, when you say device id. Do you mean (for Android) ssaid, IMEI or advertising I.d or Mac address?
Huh, I thought IMEI was something only useful to government and insurance and not possible for apps to read? I wasn't worried about it if that's the case, it's on Android yes so probably SSAID (not sure about the Advertising ID, also can or is it common for apps to read MAC Address of devices to tie it to people?)
No i'm saying what specifically do you mean by device id. because I need to know so I can tell you if or how you can spoof it.
USAID is pretty straight forward to spoof, you can either do it with adb using a PC, or by factory resetting the phone. (which is probably a last resort for you not sure.) edit: or you can create a virtual environment, or root and use Xposed/Magisk modules.
thanks!
Remember if you use play services, Google has your IMEI, though.
These seem to be the 4 options particularly for ssaid. See my last comment. you should also be able to reset the advertising I.d which you can easily do right on your android phone's settings without root.