Cell Phone Users Beware!!!

I read in an article in Adbusters magazine that b/c of GPS on some cell phones and all the other handheld digital items Americans are obsessed with, advertisers will be able to use this to thier advantage. An example in the article was walking down the street and your phone rings, you pick it up and a voice on the other end says "Hey! It's about 7 am and there's a Starbucks just around the corner! We've got a hot cup of coffee waiting for you!" So basically there will be no where to hide from our media when and if this happens.

 

That's why I refer to it as my tracking device.

 

same here.

 

I don't know about the advertising but all cell phone providers are being required to have GPS transmitters in the cell phones by the FCC for 911 call location information. You call 911 and your longitude and latitude are transmitted to the cell provider. This is fact. Who knows how else this location information can be used. After about a couple of years even the small providers have to comply. All the big guys are in process as we speak.

 

I could not imediately find the summary of this requirement. Below is a link to an FCC notice that does give some details. The Phase Two of the wireless E911 plan requires Automatic Location Identification (ALI) systems be in place by a certain time. These can be network or handset based systems, or a hybrid system consisting of a combination of the two. Carriers really fought the handset based ALI because it made them require the customers to buy new handsets which of course would piss off customers. The network based system is like you see on the cop shows where the user is located by triangulation. This is typically not as accurate as the handset (GPS) ALI. All of the newest technology cell phones are manufactured with the GPS ALI technology built in.

My company, a rural telephone company, was required to issue a report to the FCC regarding our compliance. Since we only have fixed wireless services we do not have to comply, but the research I did lead me to a lot of the FCC documents regarding what was being done. The botton line is that the cops will be able to locate you by you cellphone, and who knows who else.

http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Wireless/Public_Notices/2000/da002099.html

 

dont cary a cell phone then.
or get advertisments.

 

just set your phone to 911 only, then it only transmits on 911 calls.

 

There have been congressional hearings on PI's tracing data through cell phone records, it seems they are the most at risk, since most employees are temporary and and security has never been an issue for these companies.

 

RFIDs can be put into practically anything you buy without you knowing they are there.

 

Tracking devices aren't the big issue, the big issue is the privacy statement or eula you sign when get one of these things. They can release your records without your knowledge.

 

what privacy statement and whats eula?

 

EULA is end user license agreement, and its the thing you agree to when you install software onto a computer.

 

Did you read your contract? What rights as a consumer do you have?

 

Oh it is very possible and tests have actually been done. I dont know how it works in great detail but its similar to the principle of bluetooth where your phone will respond
when another bluetooth device is near

 

No i'll admit i dont normallytake a look at a privacy disclaimer for the main reason that i dont download alot of stuff and most of the stuff i do is pretty important so i dont have much choice.

 

Good magazine, that Adbusters...
But it does throw in an alarmist piece now and then to keep things 'lively'.

Nonetheless, I'm sure the technology exists...it's more a matter of how accesible and applied it is at the moment. I doubt your average shmoe has much to worry about yet, but that'll likely change in a few years' time.

 

Its true that the FCC requires GPS to be in all cell phones, but I was told by my last US cell phone company (Sprint) that the GPS feature requires an extra fee to be used as a locator by 911.
The GPS chip has been known to be used by private investigators for both court cases and the standard infidelity cases, without the cell phone user's permission.

However this technology is not a new thing. It has long been known that cell phones can be used to track your position inaccurately by triangulation - just working out which repeater masts are being used, and the distance apart.

Even without GPS your cell phone constantly locates itself and registers itself to the network so the network can figure out how to route your calls. This is the main reason why cell phones are not allowed on planes, since the cell phone will continually "shout" louder and louder whilst trying to locate a signal.

During any possible crime that you commit whilst carrying a cell phone, you can be placed at the scene from cell phone records. It is obviously down to the investigating authority to prove that it was you carrying the cell phone, but it is not unheard of for phone companies to release all relevant data to governmental authorities when necessary.

 

helps to know your rights...
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/tcpa.html

the part about "autodialers" is likely to be the saving grace. As is the part below, about how you can't call a phone which could be charged for the call. It could be argued that if you call my cell, I am "charged" in that you are using a portion of the minutes have paid for.

 

Don't forget that cell phones make for great govt tracking devices. That's partly how the US found al-Zarqawi.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/06/09/iraq.al.zarqawi/index.html

If I want a cellphone, I may as well ask the govt to implant an RFID chip into me.

 

I dont believe it's GPS by the way,
your cell phone has to register itself with your phone company, it logs into it through a special antenna, and ofcourse, to make you able to make phone calls, they have to register the location of the cell phone.
So they cant really track your 100% exact location, but that's still closer then not knowing anything at all...