IMEI

An IMEI, or International Mobile Equipment Identity, is the unique 15-digit serial number built into a phone or cellular modem that identifies the hardware itself to the mobile network. It belongs to the device, permanently — not to the SIM card, and not to the phone number.

IMEI is not the SIM

The two identifiers do different jobs. The SIM card identifies the subscriber — the account, the plan, the phone number. The IMEI identifies the equipment. Move a SIM to another handset and the subscriber identity travels with it while the IMEI stays behind with the original device.

Why it matters when you buy proxies

An IMEI is one of the things that distinguishes a real handset on a carrier network from software pretending to be one. When a proxy runs on physical hardware with a live SIM, the carrier is registering a genuine device — which is the same reason the connection gets a genuine carrier address behind CGNAT. White Cloak's devices are exactly that: real handsets with real SIMs, not emulated connections.

What it does not do

A website you visit through a mobile proxy never sees your IMEI. It is exchanged between the device and the carrier, not published to the internet, and no amount of browser fingerprinting reaches it. If you are being identified across sessions, the cause is a shared device fingerprint — not a hardware serial number.

Where the hardware identity does show up is inside apps that ask the phone about itself. If that is what you need — a real handset with a working number and real sensors you can drive from the browser — that is a phone rental rather than a proxy: see phonerent.app.