# Police retrieving computer search history (Brian Walshe case) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 10, 2025, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-retrieving-computer-search-history-brian-walshe-case/1025599 "2025-12-10T20:02:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2025, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-retrieving-computer-search-history-brian-walshe-case/1025599/21 "2025-12-13T04:06:17Z")
Can burner phones be purchased without ID? They can’t legally be bought without ID in Japan but if you could get one then that’s a way to keep your searches separate. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2025, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-retrieving-computer-search-history-brian-walshe-case/1025599/22 "2025-12-13T07:35:28Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > Can burner phones be purchased without ID? They certainly can in the US. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2025, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-retrieving-computer-search-history-brian-walshe-case/1025599/23 "2025-12-13T10:17:25Z")
Surely what you need is a “burner SIM card”? I’ve never understood that TV trope where hero on the run physically destroys his phone. We have to register SIM cards with the government, but there are places where you can buy a SIM card registered to some stranger… ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2025, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-retrieving-computer-search-history-brian-walshe-case/1025599/24 "2025-12-13T11:27:57Z")
Giving it further thought, I am incorrect in asking the question. I mean, a full wipe & change of MAC address would probably suffice, but time is of the essence. I guess the point is more “don’t caught with the phone”. With newer tracking methods like Evercookie (a brower based identification system - extremely interesting to us nerds, but very intrusive IMHO) it may be more hassle to do a system reset. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2025, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-retrieving-computer-search-history-brian-walshe-case/1025599/25 "2025-12-13T13:20:29Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > Why would anyone sign in to Google? For email, yes - but then sign out. Why give them more data? you don’t have to … I just did the “fingerprint test” on my computer and it is UNIQUE in this universe of nearly 400.000 tested computers (and still in their database) … this is of course true with all the different browsers and “private” modes… I ran the test var. times. [![](https://i.postimg.cc/K8946FJq/image.png) ](https://i.postimg.cc/K8946FJq/image.png) so, when push comes to shove, Google et al could still positively ID that the search was done from your UNIIQUE computer ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2025, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-retrieving-computer-search-history-brian-walshe-case/1025599/26 "2025-12-13T13:30:55Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > A very quick search of Amazon turned a [Dell Chromebook 3180 Laptop Computer](https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Chromebook-Computer-Celeron-Bluetooth/dp/B0CKN6R3X7/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2DGW8V4VMFAM9&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.7JoQvNkFKpMzCo5f-qJvwRUWeyZvCoLsK0TctQRqb10R6EwXgerWMwfrbiGFlldC9RaALb9WJAKzdLubMSmmAm8BGIZrB9JrZnzN_D4cK-NBBwOGbEEDaK1uiL5lXSXOcSrhG3MvCrbXMaB-ghpaqInI6iYsaujbheAg4a9u3p8RNvUr8dZCzafrazz9fzF4ZJBS4QZ3Tz0Cqw3N9yrSdB94UhgKrJ70KY8Tcs09uo8.kQRriH4LwRcuYik8NPYChr8P2JJA-iuFw5MUjgKa90o&dib_tag=se&keywords=inexpensive%252Bcomputer%252Blaptop%252Bdragon&qid=1765497283&sprefix=inexpensive%252Bcomputer%252Blaptop%252Bgragon%252B%252Caps%252C161&sr=8-3&th=1), 11.6 Inch Laptop PC, Intel Celeron N3060, 4GB RAM, 16GB SSD, Web Camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HDMI, Chrome OS for $86. That’s cheap insurance. that seems te be cheaper than many VPN offers for a whole year … and it is def. a real air-gap “firewall” for you. of course one needs to be really strict and stringent in one’s behaviour: purchase the Dell, do the deed and then utterly destroy it … (and resist the urge to do anything else with the computer, like logging into SDMB 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2025, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-retrieving-computer-search-history-brian-walshe-case/1025599/27 "2025-12-13T13:34:25Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > Surely what you need is a “burner SIM card”? > > I’ve never understood that TV trope where hero on the run physically destroys his phone. > > We have to register SIM cards with the government, but there are places where you can buy a SIM card registered to some stranger… you can purchase SIM cards her (chile) at any mum and pop shop for 2-3 dollars … quite frequently even in vending machines, etc… mentioning this to make clear you do NOT need any ID to purchase it … ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2025, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-retrieving-computer-search-history-brian-walshe-case/1025599/28 "2025-12-13T13:40:45Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > you can purchase SIM cards her (chile) at any mum and pop shop for 2-3 dollars … quite frequently even in vending machines, etc… mentioning this to make clear you do NOT need any ID to purchase it … You can purchase all the SIM cards you want in Germany, but there’s no legal way (I know of) to activate them without giving your ID to the provider. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2025, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-retrieving-computer-search-history-brian-walshe-case/1025599/29 "2025-12-13T14:48:32Z")
interesting … I THINK (but am not sure) … that you just pop the SIM into a celphone and are being connected (maybe some on-screen information on next steps) … but thats pretty much it … again I THINK, that is why you have those vending machines in airports, etc… swap out your german SIM, pop in the chilean y “roberto es tu tio” and you are good to head off into Atacama / Torres de Paine, etc… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2025, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-retrieving-computer-search-history-brian-walshe-case/1025599/30 "2025-12-13T14:51:46Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > I THINK (but am not sure) … that you just pop the SIM into a celphone and are being connected (maybe some on-screen information on next steps) … but thats pretty much it … That’s not how it works here. You buy a SIM card, in a shop or online, but it is tied to one of the several mobile providers, and you have to register there with your address and ID before the card can get activated online. Without that process, the card is useless and cannot connect to the net. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2025, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-retrieving-computer-search-history-brian-walshe-case/1025599/31 "2025-12-13T17:22:37Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > and you have to register there with your address and ID before the card can get activated online That, too, is the theory in South Africa. We have laws specific to this process. (FICA, and RICA, if anyone is bored enough to research them) But we can still easily bypass them. In India, when I went several years back, I wanted a SIM not for calls or nefarious purposes - just internet access, I just walked into a high-pressure sales store and bought their cheapest deal. No ID required. (Although…kudos to Indian hackers. My iPod managed to get a virus which I was unaware was even a thing, when I plugged into a hotel free wifi, because I thought I was being clever by running portable Firefox as a USB app instead of using the hotel provided PCs.) ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-retrieving-computer-search-history-brian-walshe-case/1025599/32 "2025-12-15T20:16:41Z")
In news that surprised absolutely no one, Brian Walshe was found guilty of murdering his wife. That was one 'ell of a fight by the defense team (who in their defense had _nothing_ to work with) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-retrieving-computer-search-history-brian-walshe-case/1025599.md?page=1)