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So just how secure and private is the case where you use hushed app with a VPN on Android?

Here is what i was thinking , so i have two phones, one is without a sim card just sided loaded apps namely hushed, and a vpn and the other has a sim card and all the usual non private things like google account attached, non vpn, no cryptography of any kind just all the usual functions and none of the security

If from the non sim card phone i turn on the vpn, then use a hushed number(burner number) and connect to my other phone which has a sim card and uses cellular network over a mobile hotspot wireless connection on the other phone , is the first phone protected and secure and private so that nobody can access the information i send over it? or does the data sent through the wireless hotspot connection become visible through the phone which is offering the wireless hotspot connection?

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    To clarify: which version of Android (read: which security patch level) are we talking about? (I’m asking because older unpatched systems might inhibit additional sec and priv probs.)
    – e-sushi
    Commented May 23, 2018 at 20:13
  • What is a "hushed app"?
    – forest
    Commented May 24, 2018 at 0:14

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In order:

If from the non sim card phone i turn on the vpn, then use a hushed number(burner number) and connect to my other phone which has a sim card and uses cellular network over a mobile hotspot wireless connection on the other phone , is the first phone protected and secure and private so that nobody can access the information i send over it?

Short answer: Sort of, yes. Let me elaborate and clarify. First, a primer on VPNs:

VPN tunnels are between two endpoints. If your VPN is on your burner phone, the other endpoint is usually the provider or VPS. (e.g. VyprVPN, ProtonMail, etc). This creates a tunnel of encrypted traffic between these two, meaning your ISP (and anyone else in the middle, like someone on Wifi) cannot see your traffic. However, this does nothing to protect your other, non-burner phone. The only thing encrypted is packets sent and received on your non-burner phone.

However, if you set up and create a hotspot on non-burner phone, and use this hotspot on your burner phone, then connect VPN on burner phone, your burner phone will still remain anonymous (see bottom for note on this) and encrypted - but traffic orginating from your non-burner phone is not. Meaning anything sent/received from your non-burner phone is still visible, while your burner phone is (relatively) safe.

Or does the data sent through the wireless hotspot connection become visible through the phone which is offering the wireless hotspot connection?

Short version: Your burner phone will remain anonymous, but your non-burner phone will not. As long as the data is only going through the hotspot with a VPN connected, you should be safe. If you want anonymous info on your non-burner phone, set up a VPN on that one, too.

Note on anonymity - VPN's alone are not enough to ensure true anonymity. Things like DNS leaks can compromise your IP, so if you want true anonymity, you will need a layered approach. Perfect anonymity is nearly impossible, however, and requires going through lengths most people will find annoying or even eccentric. I am not addressing those, I'm simply discussing the VPN traffic as you presented the question. VPN's are a huge step in protection, and will make it considerably more difficult to track you, especially for usta casual user - difficult, but not impossible. I thought it important to clarify this distintion.

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  • Agree, just to add, no need to use VPN. Its important to use secure protocols at all. By the way, this is the same case when you use your home internet connection - you never know if the cable is not cutted and if somebody is not listening there. Worse, if somebody didn't hack your internet provider ;)
    – Fis
    Commented May 23, 2018 at 22:53

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