UK advice - can ANY FONE be tracked?

originally posted by: Maxatoria
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

so if the battery is out, there is no mast signal?

a reply to: uninfluenced
No battery/power = no communication with mast from phone

a reply to: grainofsand

My son informed me the other day that if you have one of these new fandangled phones, the tracking is in the chip/sim, so even if you take out the battery it can still be tracked.....



Rainbows
Jane

a reply to: angelchemuel
I would expect a reputable verifiable source for such a claim if my own son made such an assertion so my standard of required evidence is the same for yours.
I can imagine a device that can be detected within a system similar to those that protect library books or booze being nicked from supermarkets at close range being hidden in phones, but for a phone to communicate with the network it needs power.
...unless you have a source link to help me better educate myself about such things?

a reply to: grainofsand

No probs, I'll ask him when he gets in, because it didn't make much sense to me I have to admit. But he's a straight A student currently doing his GCSE's and physics is his best subject, so I never thought to question him much more to be honest.
But since this has come up, I'll ask him later and get back here. I could have totally misunderstood him of course.

Rainbows
Jane

a reply to: angelchemuel
I look forward to it.
*Off-topic, your straight A student currently doing GCSE's line made me smile as same for me except my lad prefers chemistry. Two more weeks and they're over, my lad is already lifeguarding at a leisure centre, full time hours sorted for Summer before college, I hope your lad has a similar bright future ahead of him

a reply to: uninfluenced
if you fly by Malaysian airlines it might stop them being traced about 200 odd phones on a recent flight were unable to be traced i thought ATS might have heard about this

a reply to: Scotscorps84
I thought the same earlier but didn't post it as I couldn't counter the 'beneath a couple of km's ocean' argument.

a reply to: grainofsand

as long as the battery is in right? if you really need to hide best option ditch the phone or is that too old school?

If they do not know what phone you have, no they cannot trace you.

Thats why you buy top up vouchers in cash or recycle pre-paid debit cards.

You are invisible.

a reply to: Scotscorps84
Agreed, and as I said earlier if I think I may be in a potential arrest situation such as a demo or whatever I do not carry a phone.
1, Any possible tracking cannot link my phone to a crowd/location event.
2, If arrested the cops can't snoop through my phone memory for contacts/associates, texts, internet searches, etc.

a reply to: Bellor

Unless they have technology implemented that can detect a your voiceprint, and a few less likely, yet technically feasible ways of identification.

a reply to: uninfluenced

Heya OP.. I can tell you this from an in-depth non-fiction book I read on the first CIA class to train after 2001. It wasn't a major point in the book, so not something to lie or exaggerate about, I'd think. Just a scene detail that was part of the ordeal they go though I guess.

Anyway, one of the main training areas for the CIA is out in a very rural area and well enough known but not known for who is coming and going by name, on a daily basis. The trainees were apparently required to turn off the phone, remove the battery and store them apart. All that to be done a long physical distance before even getting to the off-ramp from the interstate to start into the countryside.

If they're that paranoid and it was clear back in 2001? I just assume nothing about a cell phone is secure on any level.

a reply to: cuckooold

Google does that, its a service they offer to help google search learn how you talk to avoid confusion from accents etc, it learns over time, pretty clever.

But again if you have no personaly identifiable information held against that phone number, no one can track you.

Sure they can track the phone, along with potentialy hundreds of thousands, millions of other phones in data going through a mast, but meh.

Being able to track a phone means nothing if they cannot tie it to you.

But most people are pretty dumb and are willing to hand over as much data about themselves as they can to complete strangers and evil corporations so basicaly when men in black camos that fail to identify themselves storm your front door and murder your family because you read the wrong article or bought the wrong item on the UK FREEDOM WEB they have only themselves to blame.

If arrested the cops can't snoop through my phone memory for contacts/associates, texts, internet searches, etc.

Encrypt your phone, android allows this along with remote wipe/brick.

a reply to: angelchemuel
No it's not,don't believe anything you see on Youtube.It needs power to various different circuits and modules to know where it is,the SIM card has no power of it's own until it gets it from the phone's main battery.This also has to power the transmitter and receiver used for the GSM signal (the cellphone network),and if you want real accuracy the GPS receiver is also very hungry for power.The data stored on the SIM card is kept in a non-volatile memory,this means it doesn't need backup power to stop it from losing it's contents.

If you don't want to be tracked,don't have a cellphone that is switched on,it really is that simple.I have nothing to hide from anyone,so I welcome Google Now knowing what I'm doing and learning what days I work and which ones I don't work.
I really don't get the paranoia surrounding cellphones,we're not forced to have them are we?

Erm OK....looks like they can with the new Apple iphone....I remembered my son said something about apple...not necessarily tracking you....but then they wouldn't tell you otherwise now would they?

When Apple launched the iPhone 5S, it added what’s called a ‘companion’ chip, dubbed M7.
The M7 collects data from sensors including the accelerometer, gyroscope and compasses.
These sensors can detect motion and are used by a variety of apps including fitness trackers, and maps.
It was designed to take this data collection task from the central processing unit (CPU) to help preserve battery and speed up the processors.
Each of the motion sensors are classed as ‘low-energy’, which means the M7 can continue to collect data from them using the battery reserve.
The M7 does not collect data from the GPS unit, though, because this unit takes up a lot of power and is handled by a separate chip.
All the data the M7 collects is encrypted and removed after seven days.
It also can't be accessed by Apple's built-in apps - only by apps developed by third parties

There's a lot more that explains it here...
www.dailymail.co.uk...< br />
Rainbows
Jane

a reply to: angelchemuel
Apple have had a clandestine tracking program installed in all iPhones right back to the first iPhone 4s,or it might even have been the iPhone 3.I really don't think a device that counts how many steps you take when your phone is switched off is cause for concern?
Apple really are the worst offenders for this if you regard this as a bad thing to do.At least Android gives you the choice to switch off Google location services if you don't want them knowing where you are.
Hopefully everyone who uses stand alone sat navs such as Garmin,Tom Tom etc knows that every time you connect to them to check for or to download updates,it sends every journey you've made to them,apparantly to be used to make the service they offer more efficient.

a reply to: Imagewerx

If they dont know who you are, whats it matter?

Google doesnt know who I am so I happily use all their services. If I thought google could identify the legal fiction that is me, then I would not under any circumstance use the services they offer.

Everyone must learn to create virtual identities and keep them separate from non virtual identities.

If only we could virtualise IMEI then we would be jammin.

a reply to: Bellor
They know my home address because I've identified it on Google maps,they also know my full name because I chose to give it to them when I set up my Google account.Again I have nothing to hide,so why should I object to them or anyone else having this information?
I can only assume that all people who object to companies such as Google having this information about themselves have a few skeletons in their closets they don't want let out?

a reply to: Imagewerx

Maybe, I dunno man, the problem I have is how they use this information and how the services they provide have become increasingly dependent on personaly identifiable information. Google now asks me for a phone number any time I try to create a gmail. Why?, why do I need a Google plus account to leave comments on youtube?

I circumvent that by using my phone. Shouldnt have to though.

These corporations make vast sums of money from the data they collect from people, how much money do you get exactly?, doesnt sit right with me. I do not believe anyone has a right to information you do not wish to share and the use of their services should not depend on people handing it over. Google does not need my phone number my name or my home address to use any of its services so why does it request I do so?