"One thing I know is true is that you can be fairly precisely located and tracked while your cell phone is on."
I've heard of numerous cases where the cell company give the police information on where some suspects phone one. This is used to tie them to a certain location.
But of course you don't have to worry about this because it won't be abused. /s
They can only determine your location within the radius of the cell tower, which could be anywhere within a 25 mile radius depending on how far apart towers are from each other in the area.
It's not like they can drop a bomb on you.