TODO: Hotspot Helper Demo Video – External IMEI Management

TODO: Add a demo video of Roller working on old old phone – Native IMEI Rolling

Some companies say they have IMEI rolling, but do they? This capability is typically not discussed as openly as we are about to explain. But what does IMEI rolling actually mean? IMEI is an abbreviation for International Mobile Equipment Identity. Basically, it is the unique number attached to a device that the towers (and entire telco infrastructure) use to keep track of the phone on the network. Think of the IMEI as a serial number that is bound to the modem that allows for your phone to talk to the tower, akin to a social security number (in the US).

Why would anyone want to change their IMEI? Certain folks (like celebrities and HNW individuals) are worried about being tracked, which is reasonable. This goes beyond the whole argument of “well I don’t have anything to hide”. We are not here to debate the morality and feelings of folks who want to change their IMEI, we are focusing on the actual capability vs the marketing BS that some companies claim.

As you can see from our video below, the IMEI change is taking place from the perspective of the carrier. It is REALLY easy to validate these claims. Why do we validate at the carrier level vs. trusting the IMEI that is shown in the system information? It is trivial to change the string that the OS reports to a user looking for the IMEI in the Android Settings menu. This is the trick that some unscrupulous vendors use to claim IMEI Rolling by simply updating the IMEI in the OS, but not the actual NV values used by the modem. It offers no real protection from bad actors with SS7 access.

SS7 is a the infrastructure that allows for all of the different telcos and carriers to all work together and make phone calls work like magic. TODO: Explain what SS7 access really means to most users. TODO: Explain what SS7 means to users that are concerned about their privacy. So you can start to see how SS7 could pose a risk that might make someone want to investigate what tools are available to mitigate risk.

Here is the other part that a lot of vendors will not tell you: changing the IMEI is not enough to avoid being tracked via SS7. You also need to change the IMSI, which is to say you need to manage the SIM card or eSIM. The IMEI + IMSI combination is what is commonly used to track, which is to say you either need to carry a slew of anonymously purchased SIM cards or have a companion app on the same phone you are changing the IMEI to automatically manage the eSIM so whenever you change the IMEI, you end up changing the IMSI at the same time. This isn’t even taking into consideration the ICCID of the eSIM.

And a quick editorial comment: IF YOUR IMEI/IMSI ROLLING APP RELIES ON GOOGLE SERVICES THEN YOU NEED TO QUESTION HOW THE SECURITY OF THAT APP.

That catches us up to the current version of Android 16 where, surprise surprise, it would appear that manufactures and vendors are working to further close the possibility of changing the IMEIs in the future on new devices.

Spicy Corp’s Hotspot Helper provides the most modern solution to being able to manage IMEIs via an app. No BS. Putting this out there feels like we are sharing the secret sauce recipe, but this is just a novel solution that will allow us to continue supporting REAL IMEI Rolling for users who need such a feature.

So hope that you understand how IMEI’s work and the impact of being able to manage the identity of your hardware identifiers as easy as you manage wifi networks. Is Spicy Corp experts on IMEI Rolling? Yes. Is IMEI Rolling a valid counter measure for global surveillance? If it is done correctly. Will companies in the security space still make bold claims without hard evidence? Yes, and that is what this blog post hopes to clarify.