UK advice - can ANY FONE be tracked?

im on vodafone, i have a crappy old Samsung GT-E1195

www.cashgenerator.co.uk...

its just a basic flip fone from 2009 no cam no internet

can i be tracked?

no i am not on the run from the police
and i have not stolen it

its just that im told that absolutly all fones even if turned on can be tracked so everywhere you are at every moment is known to big brother

i know you can say well if u have nothing to hide u shudnt be worried, but i`m not a dog that needs a collar or tag, its just an invasion of my privacy

so yes if you are in the uk or know about these things then reply

Yes, all phones can be tracked to within a few metres by triangulating the signal in relation to receiver masts.
It is unlikely that this happens as a matter of course though, but yep, got a mobile switched on and certain agencies will be able to find out roughly where it is.

*Edit*
I've had a pre-paid-top-up non-contract phone for years which I've never registered.
Lately the mobile provider has started blocking 'age related' sites on the internet side (even some political blogs!) and I went to their local store to get the block lifted. The staff advised me that I must provide ID, even though I am clearly aged over 18, I declined the invitation, replying that I like the anonymity, and I use a proxy server to get around it. ATS has not been banned by the provider...yet lol

originally posted by: grainofsand
Yes, all phones can be tracked to within a few metres by triangulating the signal in relation to receiver masts.
It is unlikely that this happens as a matter of course though, but yep, got a mobile switched on and certain agencies will be able to find out roughly where it is.

*Edit*
I've had a pre-paid-top-up non-contract phone for years which I've never registered.
Lately the mobile provider has started blocking 'age related' sites on the internet side (even some political blogs!) and I went to their local store to get the block lifted. The staff advised me that I must provide ID, even though I am clearly aged over 18, I declined the invitation, replying that I like the anonymity, and I use a proxy server to get around it. ATS has not been banned by the provider...yet lol

i hate this its insane
i remember 10 years ago reading about how everyone will be chipped and tagged and thought meh it will never happen
and whats more, its happened willingly
through all the info we enter on facbook etc, phones etc, almost every detail about anyone is all there, we are like tagged shep

a reply to: uninfluenced
We choose to 'take the chip' when we use mobiles and/or social media though.
I don't use fakebook or #ter so I'm safe there, but even with my unregistered phone, all I'm doing is making someones potential investigation about me a little more complicated. It is the way of the future and we as a society have pretty much accepted it.
It is more of a game in my head though, I put my hand over the CCTV camera in lifts/elevators when using one, not for any particular reason other than 'because I can' and it will annoy the person watching the screen in a room somewhere.

*Edit*
All my internet access is through my unregistered phone tethered to my laptop, and my phonecalls/texts go as far as 'see you in ten minutes' or whatever for a face to face conversation. Last time I was arrested (and released without charge) the cop asked me where my mobile was and I laughed at him that he was unlucky that I'd left it at home so he could kiss goodbye to finding out who my associates were from the call logs and contacts list. He wasn't as amused as I was.

a reply to: uninfluenced
I suspect there is a big difference in what we are shown on tv to be the usual approach in the police and other programmes. However I suspect, were it really necessary phones coule be traced by the triangulation method, although they would need to know your phone number surely to identify it.

I see someone else raised the point that we have 'accepted' this spying on us so virtually have to live with it, but I would ask when did we accept this governmental interference. It seems to go to the 9/11 which was the tragic and terrible event that gave governments the right to implement terrorist legistlation which made us all victims of spying.

I do think that we need new political parties to air these irritations and also find the 9/11, which I don't doubt had government backing, not only because of its precision but also due to the idea of the extra legislation it would allow. Further I simply wish we could export all the people who are likely to become influenced by terrorism and get back to our normal lives. The option of living with all this crass legistlation permeates our everyday lives and makes living harder than it need to be. The other day in the Building Society I was not allowed to withdraw a sum of money because I did not have my passport on me. I fumed and probably nearly gave my health a real fright! The idea that people who know me and can identify me from a number of years of using their branch, but will not give me my money when I need it is pure legslitave vindictiveness. I was also horrified about how brainbwashed into this 'blind acceptance attitude' my son was, when he led fuming father out of the damn place. We, the little people pay for the blind eye governmental law makers who allow the really big offenders and corporations to cheat this country's treasury.

originally posted by: Shiloh7
The other day in the Building Society I was not allowed to withdraw a sum of money because I did not have my passport on me. I fumed and probably nearly gave my health a real fright! The idea that people who know me and can identify me from a number of years of using their branch, but will not give me my money when I need it is pure legslitave vindictiveness.

Sure however
if they dont carry out the banking proceedure on everybody the same whether you come in every day or you are first time, then they could get in trouble/sacked

I`m not saying it wasnt frustrating however it is their job versus your feelings

a reply to: Shiloh7
I have a passport because I do actually enjoy leaving the country on occasion, but I have refused to update my old paper driving license to a photo-card, more on principle than anything else.

I got pulled over last year and the cop chuckled that he hadn't seen a battered paper licence like mine for years, then he asked if I still lived at the address printed on it. I replied 'no, not for years' to which he advised that was an offence and he could nick me for it. I explained that I didn't really care, I am legally able to drive as per government records, and if he wanted to waste thousands of taxpayer money on a pathetic conviction such as not updating my address/license then go for it - the cop then queried how they could be sure who I am and I laughed that 'you' already have my photo, DNA and fingerprints on record so if they can't be sure from that there must be a flaw in the system somewhere - he chuckled again and let me on my way.

If it suits me then I'll update to a photo license, but until then, nah, I don't blindly comply to anything really, never have.

a reply to: uninfluenced
I'm no techy but assuming that your signal from the phone goes to a tower or towers, the signal can be triangulated on any transmitter.
Just my thought.

I don't really understand modern technology much, but I'd like to tell you this story so you guys can figure how it worked.

A few years back a young girl was kidnapped on Anglesey. The bridges etc were closed and the ferries to Ireland etc monitored. 48 hours after her abduction, she was found by armed police in a car park behind Tescos just over on the mainland. I have a friend who works for the coastguard who explained how they found her.

They monitored all calls and txts going on and off the island. They found 'suspicious' txts going from an unregistered phone to a cell up in the NE of England. They narrowed it down to Vodaphone network. So they shut down all other networks on the island. I can vouch for this as my T-Mobile, as it was then, went down for 3 hours. By process of elimination and shut down of Vodaphone cells, they narrowed the signal to an unregistered phone sending the messages from the afore mentioned car park. All this in a matter of 3 hours, and the little girls life was saved as she was heading for a paedophile ring previously unknown to the police in the NE.
Triangulation in reverse you might say.

Rainbows
Jane

Any sim card active in any mobile device that gets a signal can be tracked.

Now obviously if its a pre pay sim only bought with cash then no one knows its yours, but if they knew they number they can track it.

So if you do buy a sim only or pre pay phone cash only and dont register it but then send death threats to somone and the cops have your number then regardless of who you are they can find you.

a reply to: angelchemuel
No surprise there really, be a pretty piss poor security/police force if they didn't take advantage of tech to track mobiles.
Again, if we choose to carry a phone then we choose to allow potential tracking.

originally posted by: g146541
a reply to: uninfluenced
I'm no techy but assuming that your signal from the phone goes to a tower or towers, the signal can be triangulated on any transmitter.
Just my thought.

How to counter that?
fone off from battery?
or can that method still trace it

a reply to: uninfluenced
If I wanted to totally avoid tracking, I'd use a mylar bag or tin foil, or both.
No need to remove the battery as the faraday cage will block all signal.

originally posted by: g146541
a reply to: uninfluenced
If I wanted to totally avoid tracking, I'd use a mylar bag or tin foil, or both.
No need to remove the battery as the faraday cage will block all signal.

cool, but battery out of the fone should stop it being tracked by mast?
or.. can sim still be traced?
god i sound like some psycho on the run

a reply to: uninfluenced
...and remember that if you power the phone down before removing the battery it will send a little goodbye message telling the network where it last was.
I'm not really that bothered with the tracking capabilities of phones to be honest, I'm aware of it and act accordingly.
If I think I may be in a potential arrest situation, such as a demonstration or whatever, I leave my phone at home.
Cops love a good snoop around a phones memory if they have it in their possession after an arrest...texts, contacts/associates, internet searches, blah.

Let's put it like this: Does the call find you? Do you Ever get other peoples calls randomly? Has anyone ever told you that somebody else is picking up when they ring your number?

If the call can find you ... you are traced.

originally posted by: uninfluenced
im on vodafone, i have a crappy old Samsung GT-E1195

www.cashgenerator.co.uk...

its just a basic flip fone from 2009 no cam no internet

can i be tracked?

no i am not on the run from the police
and i have not stolen it

its just that im told that absolutly all fones even if turned on can be tracked so everywhere you are at every moment is known to big brother

i know you can say well if u have nothing to hide u shudnt be worried, but i`m not a dog that needs a collar or tag, its just an invasion of my privacy

so yes if you are in the uk or know about these things then reply

Yeah, even if turned off.

How is it an invasion of your privacy?

a reply to: uninfluenced

Yes...youre sending and receiving a signal when you use it...that can be tracked and hacked.

Howaya Mr,
Sorry to say it but yes virtually every town and city has a really good strong signal which also means the same masts can track within 10 meters last time I knew.
The more countryside and less transmitters the harder it is to get an exact position only way around it is no phone Im afraid.
Takes a while to get used to but I have been off phone for few months now, not because I am on the run or anything but where I am means there is practically no signal no matter which provider I use.
Always have a plan in place to go dark if needed but Im not a spy so probably never need it...Gutted

all you need is 3 different masts holding your details at the same time and given the known strength of a mobile they will easily work it out to probably a few yards, its simple maths i'm afraid but if you want to walk free keep the battery in your other pocket to the phone