Surely you don't carry your phone everywhere?

[SEmyarse]

Every time there's a discussion about civil liberties, for instance at the moment with ID cards, people always say, why are you worried they can track you by your phone anyway. But that implies that people are always carrying their phones.

I have a phone, I have to for work, and it's very useful outside work as well. I sometimes use it for navigation, and on certain instances I might take it with me if there's a chance I'll need to liaise with someone while out. Super helpful technology.

But surely people aren't taking it to the shops, or on the school run, or out for a walk in the countryside?

Yeah, actually being in contact with other people is probably the thing I use my phone for least!

I'm a late adopter with mobile phones because for more than 10 years I lived in a location with no signal and it wasn't useful. I now use mine a lot but don't carry it all the time.

I do two things regularly without it: Outdoor swimming - I dump my stuff by the lake and so don't take any valuables. The other thing is dog walks - if I'm taking the dog on a short walk (30 mins or less) I never take it either.

I've always wondered about the mysterious, "they" and why they'd want to follow a sahm of two. I guess I'd be wise to watch my p's and q's, though. 🤔

Odd. My husband is a delivery driver and has a normal phone, not a clunky one, he doesn’t have this issue of flat battery with his normal sized work phone going flat all the time.

I’ve carried my phone absolutely everywhere since I first got a phone in 2000. I can’t imagine going out without it tbh. My mum is like you though.

I have mine with me, but not because it's a phone.

Because it's a camera, a map, a library, a radio, a million audio books, my diary, my list notebook, my loyalty cards, an encyclopedia for anything that I idly wonder about, a personal assistant who reminds me of tasks and appointments, a way of identifying birdsong, a way of identifying wildflowers, my shopping list, the newspaper, a recipe book, puzzles and crosswords, the bus and train timetables, a step counter, a knitting and crochet pattern resource, a travel guide, all my tickets to movies and events...

AND a way for my children and elderly parents to video call me, my friends to exchange messages and photos.

The only person I know who doesn't take their phone everywhere, is my dh.
Annoyingly he actually has 3 phones... none of these, however, are ever charged, have the volume turned up or with him. It would be easier to contact him by getting the cat to deliver a message.

Is he doing short drop deliveries? I don't know anyone who manages 200 or so deliveries on a normal phone. I tried for a while with amazon and ended up wandering around the depths of the South Downs with a phone attached to a power bank in my pocket, and it still kept going flat when I tried to use the flash.

I take my phone with me everywhere. I’m fairly techphobic (I’ve no idea how to use Apple Pay!) and I live in the country. But, if I’m walking my dogs miles away from anyone even I know it’s helpful to have a phone in case I fall in a ditch/have a random stroke/ my dog knocks me over and breaks my leg?

The only times that I don’t have my personal phone on me is during work hours or when I’m asleep. I use a company device during work hours and can only check my personal phone during my lunch break. My kids are the ones who text me most and they know my work hours.

My phone contains everything and I never go out without it. Even when I’m gardening, I use it for music.

My car has a charger inbuilt.

Yes, I think the majority of people carry their phones pretty much everywhere at all times. I’m surprised that you seem surprised this, and yes it has been this way for over 10-15 years (again, for most people).

However, there are people who do not have mobile phones for various reasons. I usually have mine, but I’m not religious about it. If my DH has his, I might not bother taking mine if we’re going for a country walk. Yesterday, I went out without mine to nip to the shop. It seems a bit bizarre how important people think it would be if someone tried to call while I was out. It’s not life and death, I’d call them back when I got home.

My dh hasn't really got one . He has my old one but that usually sits uncharged somewhere in the house .

I do loads of this stuff, mostly on the computer at home, but occasionally on my phone if I happen to have it with me. It just seems odd to carry it with me on the 20 minute walk to the gym, and actually if I did, I probably WOULD do stuff, and I think that'd not be such a nice walk.

It comes everywhere. It’s my satnav in the car, it’s how I pay for coffee and groceries (don’t worry preppers we’ve got cash in the safe), it’s how I collect parcels at the lockers, it’s how I pay for my train to work, it’s how I check my tube or train is on time…

I absolutely take it on country walks as I’m by myself and if something goes wrong I don’t want people to realise 5 hours later and guess where I could be.

I take my phone everywhere. And my ID for that matter as that's the law where I live, and most of Europe to be fair. I don't find either a breach of my civil liberties. If you go on holiday to many places you are supposed to carry ID with you at all times.

Mine doesn't

How desperately sad.

Mine is just in my cross body bag on walks, in case I need it for something (like identifying a plant or birdsong).

Actually, what do you mean? I've got somewhere I can plug it in, but that's way too faffy 200 times a day, and it gets hardly any charge anyway. Or do you mean some kind of wireless arrangement?

I was just mentioning it as some delivery drivers may be able to manage all day with a normal phone because their cars also have an inbuilt charger 😊

Of course. I don't use it for paying for stuff, but l'd have been totally stuck if l hadn't had it with me when the clutch on my car went and l needed to call the breakdown people.

Yes. I plonk it down, it charges.

My phone goes everywhere with me, even in the house -normally if I move rooms so does my phone

Is this where the rock you’ve been living under for 20 years is?