You might still apply to have them merged if you feel the need to earn the karma, which is how HN works (and AFAIU is supposed to work), though I'd pass on that myself.
The request would be legit if you feel strongly, however.
At some point an ad covered the entire screen and wouldn't go away. But I wonder what happens if people simply stop using their phones? I suppose that's why it's important the phone offers an addictive experience, like tiktok. Because otherwise people might weigh the pros and cons and throw away their phone.
I suppose another option would be to sell a privacy service the scrambles the ad ID on your phone. But I wonder how that would work?
The problem is your location is basically /always/ stored by the carrier, so not carrying your phone would then just become a clear signal that something's up when all of the other data shows your person 'disassociated' from the cellphone's location.
I'd paid a bit of attention during the murder trial of Brian Kohberger, because his phone's GPS location records were historically used to set up the patterns of his crime; the "8458" phone was powered down for two hours during the crime but the actions were still linkable throughout.
https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-dps-surveillance-tangle-...