Why I Don't Carry a Smartphone
To say in the modern day "I don't carry a smartphone on me" is somewhat like stating that you don't drink water or don't eat food. People expect that you carry one as a default, expecting to be able to communicate with you anywhere and anytime via SMS or a phone call, or even expecting you to have a mobile data connection to be able to do internet activities on the go.
While I believe that there is a great convenience that comes along with having these services on a small device in your pocket, I don't believe that these conveniences outwieght the negatives of having to carry around a device that can spy on you.
Every Android and Apple smartphone can track the user's geographical location, whether you think it is or not, doesn't matter about having a SIM card or not. Not only this, but these devices contain hardware such as microphones and usually multiple cameras, all while running an operating system that ultimately the user cannot control.
It's not just the tracking that is a threat to your privacy and safety when you are using a smartphone, but also bad actors who may try to physically steal your phone. Many Android and Apple smartphones don't have good or up-to-date encryption for connected drives (e.g. SD cards) and the internal storage itself, if any encryption at all! This means that if a bad actor is to steal your smartphone, they will have access to all of the data stored within. Since smartphones are one of the most personal devices we've created, this makes it so that the bad actor may have access to not only the data on that smartphone, but also any accounts you have saved passwords for on there, any two factor authentication app you have on there, personally identifying info about you, and many more types of personal data that you would not want in the hands of anyone.
You do not have administrative control over any non-rooted Android phone or Apple iThing, and even with rooting an Android phone, it is stil running an OS that is intended to violate the user's privacy, all while sending data to it's glowie-funded creator, Google. These devices track your realtime position, listen to your conversations, and violate your human right to privacy, not to mention while charging you extortionate fees to use their services (or to buy the phone via a subscription rather than outright).
Instead of carrying around a smartphone, I carry around my Thinkpad X200T whenever I am not at college (to which the drive is encrypted with LUKS in case of theft), and carry around a "dumb-phone", specifically a black Samsung E1270, which cannot communicate with modern cell towers (both since it doesn't have a SIM card and doesn't have a modern enough transmitter to communicate to them). I use this phone for storing notes, contacts in case I need to ask someone to use their phone, and my alarms to wake me up. This is all I need for my portable technology, for better or for worse, and I encourage you to do the same.
If I need to use the internet while out and about, I will find some place such as a cafe or public area that has a public wireless network for internet access, and will boot my portable Tails USB stick in order to connect to their network without risking my device's security, or my privacy while browsing the internet. This obviously means I can't sign into my online accounts, but I dont like doing that anyway.
The other way that I connect to the internet while out and about is by using a USB modem that allows me to connect via "mobile data" using my SIM card. This however isn't great as it still reveals my location etc, however it is significantly better than using a SIM with a glowphone.
Thanks for reading this, and I hope that you get some inspiration from this to liberate yourself from your smartphone. It is never justified for these devices to track people in this way, that includes you as well. Deny these devices your data, deny them their power to take away your privacy, stay strong!