foxtrapper wrote:
E911 Phase II allows for GPS to be used as one of the options There are several other options that can be used. They are basically a triangulation method utilizing multiple towers (U-TDOA, E-OTD, etc).
So no, to this day, not all cell phones have GPS in them, and no law requires them to. Many a smart phone does, but many a cheapie flip phone does not.
Exactly. GPS is not required for E911, just a location, and that can be picked up by cell tower triangulation which works on ANY cellular-connected device including a pager.
Hardly any 17yo cell phones had GPS, that would've been an ultra-high-end feature you might've found on a military-oriented "PDA-phone" as they used to call them. Cell phones about 7yo and newer are likely to have GPS.
GameboyRMH wrote:
Exactly. GPS is not required for E911, just a location, and that can be picked up by cell tower triangulation which works on ANY cellular-connected device including a pager.
Hardly any 17yo cell phones had GPS, that would've been an ultra-high-end feature you might've found on a military-oriented "PDA-phone" as they used to call them. Cell phones about 7yo and newer are likely to have GPS.
Triangulation isn't exactly pin-point in accuracy, even in areas with many towers. Get into the rural areas where you're only catching one tower and you could be in a many mile area. None the less, "they" could tell you're in eastern Tennessee and not Colorado.
I'll agree GPS has gotten a lot more common on phones, but a new $10 flip phone is still pretty durn unlikely to have it. It's also a function or feature that can be checked by just checking the specifications of the phone.
Another thing that can get you is the use of wifi. Especially if your phone is set to automatically detect them, and worse, log into them. If you're logged into say the Panera Bread wifi, "they" can tell where you are to within a few feet. About as accurately as "they" can tell where you are with a GPS.
Spooky is the combination of GPS and wifi. Every play with that? I've looked at it where it could tell me not only what building I was in, but what floor I was on and what room I was in. And, track me as I moved around in the building. Only a few times and places, but downright amazing in those cases!
foxtrapper wrote:
Spooky is the combination of GPS and wifi. Every play with that? I've looked at it where it could tell me not only what building I was in, but what floor I was on and what room I was in. And, track me as I moved around in the building. Only a few times and places, but downright amazing in those cases!
Nope, I turn that stuff off right out of the box for that very reason!
