The network can see your imei and triangulate your location as long as your radio is on

https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/7710-changing-imei/8

A phone doesnt need a sim to connect to the network towers. Sim is only for billing. The network can see your imei and triangulate your location as long as your radio is on.

I have read this on https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/7710-changing-imei/8, but I'm bit confused. Does this mean our IMEI is identified by cell tower as long as the airplane mode is off? What exact setting is "Radio" referring to?

thanks a lot

thanks @rowinxavier@lemmy.world and @9tr6gyp3@lemmy.world

Short answer: Yes The network can see your IMEI and triangulate your location even though no SIM is installed. and theoretically with airplane mode off no radio is on