Mobile phone tracking

[DustyC]

a phone company said:

This month "a company".com launches a service that could bring peace of mind to parents and businesses alike. Phone Track is a revolutionary new service that helps parents check up on the whereabouts of their kids through their mobiles without embarassing them in front of their peers. For employees, such as delivery drivers, the embarassment may be somewhat less avoidable...

This sounds dangerous to me.
Especially in the wrong hands.

I feel sorry for all those driving around the country that are about to get caught out.


>>> Edited by DustyC on Thursday 23 October 10:19

[atom290]

Can tbe done on Orange I dont think, so if your on that network, your safe!

[206xsi]

Is it O2 who are offering cheaper calls from your mobile when you are at home?

How do they know? Tracking of course - be afraid, be very afraid!

[Plotloss]

I thought this functionality was part of the GSM standard. They just triangulate your position to the nearest antennae.

They've just opened it up to paying customers surely?

[DustyC]

atom290 said:

Can tbe done on Orange I dont think, so if your on that network, your safe!

Yes it can. I called 999 from an orange mobile at the scene of a motorway accidnet and they located me from my phone signal.

[lemmonie]

Its been arround for months, its called "Map-a-Mobile" and is offered by the Carphone Warehouse

[mondeoman]

Big Brother is watching you ....

[FourWheelDrift]

Plotloss said:

I thought this functionality was part of the GSM standard. They just triangulate your position to the nearest antennae. They've just opened it up to paying customers surely?

Yes, the phone only needs to be switched on, a call is not necessary.

[burriana500]

Like the rise in use of picture and video phones... only bad for those doing something they shouldn't...

Wife rings husband on mobile, who happens to be in hotel room with secretary...

"Hello darling, where are you?"

"oh just stuck in traffic on M1"

"Ahhh, poor thing, take a picture and send it to me"

"aaaaaaaaaaaah, errrrrrrrrrr....."

[deltaf]

Take a small transistor radio.
Tune it to MW/LW bands and find a weak station, then tune just off it.
Place Mobile phone in very close proximity to transistor radio. Turn volume up.....and listen.....
Notice that even though youre not even making a call, the interference from the phone, its signals, are being continually checked......Be very very afraid.
This is not a new thing, its been around almost since cell phones came out.

www.voltagelabs.com/pages/projects/cell/

[lemmonie]

www.mapamobile.com

"To locate mobile phones, you should be 18 years old or over. Locations cannot be given without the prior consent of the user of the mobile phone."

[Sparks]

lemmonie said:

www.mapamobile.com "To locate mobile phones, you should be 18 years old or over. Locations cannot be given without the prior consent of the user of the mobile phone."

But if the company owns the phone they can find out where the employee is. Parents could do the same to kids, withouth their permission (probably a good thing in some cases!) if the phone is registered to the parent(s)

Sparks

[Fatboy]

burriana500 said:

Like the rise in use of picture and video phones... only bad for those doing something they shouldn't... Wife rings husband on mobile, who happens to be in hotel room with secretary... "Hello darling, where are you?" "oh just stuck in traffic on M1" "Ahhh, poor thing, take a picture and send it to me" "aaaaaaaaaaaah, errrrrrrrrrr....."

A smart man would keep an electric razoer next to the phone and buzz it over the top 'Sorry love, the reception here is terrible, I'll call you back when I'm off the road'

[lemmonie]

Sparks said:

lemmonie said: <a href="http://www.mapamobile.com">www.mapamobile.com</a> "To locate mobile phones, you should be 18 years old or over. Locations cannot be given without the prior consent of the user of the mobile phone." But if the company owns the phone they can find out where the employee is. Parents could do the same to kids, withouth their permission (probably a good thing in some cases!) if the phone is registered to the parent(s) Sparks

I dont think its really a bad thing at all. Although i must admit if i was still based on the road and my boss was cheking on me i'd be very upset, not for any other reason than i would of course definitely be skiving and that would have to stop.....

[Plotloss]

Fatboy said:

A smart man would keep an electric razoer next to the phone and buzz it over the top 'Sorry love, the reception here is terrible, I'll call you back when I'm off the road'

I was in the Ralph Lauren shop in Bicester a while back and there was a chap on the phone with his hand over the mouthpiece saying 'Yeah, I'm just stuck on the M40, will be there in 40 minutes...'

[DustyC]

thats ok until the boss/missus says "Press the horn then!"

[danhay]

Surely they can't locate you if it's switched off, which it will be of course if you're driving?

...ahem

[mondeoman]

burriana500 said:

Like the rise in use of picture and video phones... only bad for those doing something they shouldn't... Wife rings husband on mobile, who happens to be in hotel room with secretary... "Hello darling, where are you?" "oh just stuck in traffic on M1" "Ahhh, poor thing, take a picture and send it to me" "aaaaaaaaaaaah, errrrrrrrrrr....."

So you wont complain about identity cards or car tracking or any other types of covert surveillance ....

[robp]

On one of old Nokia bricks it had a "network info" or something which used to give you the postcode or dialing code of your current position. I never knew it had become so much more accurate.

Is the data held for any length of time though? i.e Orange might be able to tell me where I am now, but would they be able to tell me where i was yesterday, last week or a year ago?!

[CarZee]

Apparently this map-a-mobile thing regularly sends notifications to the mobile that's being tracked, informing of same, so it cannot be done surreptitiously.

Well, techinically it can, but that would be in breach of the DPA amongst other things..

If it comes to light that it is being done without consent, I'm going to Carphone Whorehose and my phone is going sideways up the manager's jacksie.

Consider that the mobile service providers keep the location information for a very very long time, so if the police want to find out where you were on this day 2 years ago, a legal mechanism exists for them to find out via your mobile provider.