Posted on 10/22/2007 10:44:59 PM PDT by neverdem
Or turn off your cell phone? Does it work with the phone off?
I’ll stick w my ‘old tech’ phone that’s just a phone.
“The cel phones with the GPS installed can be activated in a listen mode by the FBI.”
That sounds a bit hard to believe. But it shouldn’t be that hard to find out. It would have to be a requirement levied by the FCC and imposed on domestic phone providers and foreign ones as well, and it would have to be detailed in a specification which was released publicly.
As for the location tracking part, they don’t have to have GPS. They can triangulate pretty well with cel towers, especially where the towers are more densely located in more populous areas.
We have found Big Brother and he is Us.
Good, cause I’m lactose intolerant. :-)
Maybe that fence at the border isn’t such a great idea afterall. Fences work both directions.
Sometimes you might want to be found (like if you’re at the bottom of a ravine). A simple on-off feature should suffice to protect privacy interests. Have an override switch for parents who give phones to minors.
The GPS chip is in a constant transmit mode, reporting it’s phone number and exact position to the cel network. There is no need for triangulation. It works when there is only one cel site in the area. According to article I read, the FBI has already used the listening capability to spy on the Mafia. The Mafia could check the room for bugs and frisk guys to see if they are wearing wires but their own cel phones which were supposedly turned off, transmited every word that they were saying.
FBI taps cell phone mic as easdropping tool ... The U.S. Commerce Department's security office warns that "a cellular telephone can be turned into a microphone and transmitter for the purpose of listening to conversations in the vicinity of the phone." An article in the Financial Times last year said mobile providers can "remotely install a piece of software on to any handset, without the owner's knowledge, which will activate the microphone even when its owner is not making a call." Nextel and Samsung handsets and the Motorola Razr are especially vulnerable to software downloads that activate their microphones, said James Atkinson, a counter-surveillance consultant who has worked closely with government agencies. "They can be remotely accessed and made to transmit room audio all the time," he said. "You can do that without having physical access to the phone." Because modern handsets are miniature computers, downloaded software could modify the usual interface that always displays when a call is in progress. The spyware could then place a call to the FBI and activate the microphone--all without the owner knowing it happened. (The FBI declined to comment on Friday.) "If a phone has in fact been modified to act as a bug, the only way to counteract that is to either have a bugsweeper follow you around 24-7, which is not practical, or to peel the battery off the phone," Atkinson said. Security-conscious corporate executives routinely remove the batteries from their cell phones, he added.
See 29.
Thanks for providing the link. Pretty scary stuff!!
I would imagine the latest phones have that built in with no need for the phone company to download the software. Considering all aspects of the phone are software controlled these days I can’t imagine it not being in there.
I wonder if some of these computer phones have a BIOS battery and if it could be used for other purposes. If they do, removing the main battery won’t accomplish much.
Well, many cars made today already have the ability to remotely shut them down.
In general, this is an individual state issue. In Texas, a person can record any call coming into their phone. (i.e., one party to the call has to be aware of the recording). In Mass, and some other police states, both parties have to be aware. In a police state, only the police are allowed to wiretap you.
I tell ya, the UK is us about 10 years down the road.
Have you also noticed that there are so many new ‘laws’ and ordinances that are out there that make you a criminal for doing things we’ve always done? The explosion of nannystate laws (seat belt laws, etc, etc). More laws that make you a felon (so they can get your guns) but have nothing to do with guns or violence?
Thanks neverdem.
Any BIOS battery provides only a tiny amount of current and certainly not enough to receive or transmit. Anyway, the phones have ROMs which don’t need batteries.
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