Modern smartphones are surveillance devices that also happen to make calls. If you carry one, you are broadcasting your identity, location, habits, and contacts to corporations and governments—unless you take deliberate measures to sever those connections. Done right, this type of device could have spared many of the J6 protesters from identification and prosecution. This guide walks you through acquiring and configuring a phone for pretty good privacy, using hardened hardware and privacy techniques. It is not a fool-proof guide to perfect privacy or absolute guarantee against any kind of tracking. There are many considerations and factors when securing a device that is always connected to cell towers and Wi-Fi routers and this guide is not meant to cover them all. However, this will get you started with a solid device.

1. Acquire Your Hardware & SIM Completely Offline

Objective: No paper trail, no metadata linking your name to your device or service.

• Device: Buy a Google Pixel in person, with cash. Pixels are supported by GrapheneOS, a hardened, de-Googled version of Android. Do not buy online, as shipping labels and payment processors create a record.
• Carrier: Purchase a Mint Mobile eSIM in-store with cash. Mint Mobile allows prepaid service without forcing in-person ID verification in most U.S. locations.
• No Loyalty Programs: Do not give the store a phone number or email for “rewards” or “discounts.” Those systems are metadata honey traps. Pay full price if needed—your anonymity is worth more than $20.

2. Install GrapheneOS via Public Wi-Fi

Objective: Remove Google spyware from your phone before it ever touches your home network.

1. Take your Pixel and a laptop to a location with open public Wi-Fi—a café, public library, or hotel lobby works. Avoid free Wi-Fi that requires SMS verification.
2. On your laptop, visit the GrapheneOS Install Guide and use the WebUSB-based installer. This lets you flash the OS directly from your browser, no downloads or custom flashing tools needed.
3. Follow the instructions carefully. The installer will wipe the stock Android system and replace it with GrapheneOS—a hardened, security-first operating system. The instructions are very simple to follow, you don't have to be technically proficient.
4. Do not log into any accounts during setup. Keep the phone as a blank slate.

Why public Wi-Fi? If you do this at home, your home IP address can be linked to your device’s initial boot by Google. Public access breaks that chain.

3. Activate Your eSIM

Objective: Get connectivity without revealing identity.

• NEVER give out the associated phone number. NEVER use the integrated phone app to call from this number. You only use this eSIM for data. You're going to use a VoIP number through MySudo as your daily-use number.
• Use the Mint Mobile activation instructions provided in your kit.
• Perform activation only after GrapheneOS is installed—never let stock Android phone home with your IMEI before you harden it.
• If Mint requests personal info online, provide generic non-identifying answers within legal limits. You are paying for prepaid service, not a postpaid contract.

4. Install MySudo Securely

Objective: Create multiple compartmentalized digital identities for calls, texts, and emails.

You have two installation paths:

• APK Download from a Trusted Mirror: Avoid Google entirely by downloading the MySudo APK from a reputable cryptographically-verified mirror. Sound complicated? Choose the next option.
• Throwaway Google Account: If APK mirrors are unavailable, create a burner Google account on a public computer or public Wi-Fi. Never link it to your real phone number. Log into Play Store to download MySudo.

5. Create Your MySudo Account

Objective: Register MySudo without tying it to your hardened phone.

1. Use your old phone (iPhone or stock Android) for the initial MySudo signup. 
2. You will need an Apple App Store or Google Play Store account and device with an active payment method to create the MySudo account. This is unavoidable for initial account creation and for subsequent payments (monthly or annual). It's only $19.99/year for one phone number. More is nice if you want additional throwaway numbers, but not necessary.
   **Note: It doesn't matter that your identity is tied to your payment here. This is going to be the phone number you use and give out publicly for people to call you. 
3. Once the account is created, log in to MySudo on your hardened Pixel via the app you installed earlier.
4. Your Pixel now inherits the phone numbers, emails, and calling capabilities of MySudo without ever having been exposed to the payment account directly.

Tip: If you'd like to keep your old phone number that you've been using for years, you can port it over to MySudo as your VoIP number. 

Now you have a device that is not linked to your identity. You also have a public phone number (MySudo) that isn't pinging cell towers and giving away your location all the time. Your Mint Mobile eSIM will still do that, but it is not tied to your identity. This means that someone with the ability to geo-locate cell phones via phone number (ask AI who can do this) will be unable to geo-locate you with your public phone number.

Yes there are other ways your phone could be geo-located. The most common method after primary eSIM is through apps with location access, so be careful which apps you give that to. It is possible you could be geo-located by your phone's IMEI number (think serial number - it is hard coded to your device) which does get revealed to cell towers. However, this is a much less common method of tracking phone locations. 

Final Operational Tips

• Add a VPN to your phone ASAP and turn it on. In the VPN settings for the phone, select "Always On". Recommend Mullvad, iVPN, or Proton VPN.
• Compartmentalize identities. Use separate Sudo numbers/emails for different spheres of life (work, activism, friends/family).

Your new privacy phone is not a magic shield, but it significantly complicates any attempt to track your location and data. If you have questions, reach out. I'll be writing another guide on different ways of using the device and different apps you might consider.