Stop calling them phones. They are tracking devices.

NYT Article

EXCERPT:

Most doubts about the principal function of these devices were erased when it was recently disclosed that cellphone carriers responded 1.3 million times last year to law enforcement requests for call data. That’s not even a complete count, because T-Mobile, one of the largest carriers, refused to reveal its numbers. It appears that millions of cellphone users have been swept up in government surveillance of their calls and where they made them from. Many police agencies don’t obtain search warrants when requesting location data from carriers.

Outtake #2:

What’s the harm? The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, ruling about the use of tracking devices by the police, noted that GPS data can reveal whether a person “is a weekly church goer, a heavy drinker, a regular at the gym, an unfaithful husband, an outpatient receiving medical treatment, an associate of particular individuals or political groups — and not just one such fact about a person, but all such facts.” Even the most gregarious of sharers might not reveal all that on Facebook.

This is what’s known as predictive modeling, and it requires nothing more than your cellphone data.

The more you know about 4G, LTE, the less you will like about it!

Part of the reason my phone has no GPS, texting, or voicemail. It's just a phone.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: NYT Article EXCERPT: Most doubts about the principal function of these devices were erased when it was recently disclosed that cellphone carriers responded 1.3 million times last year to law enforcement requests for call data. That’s not even a complete count, because T-Mobile, one of the largest carriers, refused to reveal its numbers..

Did they fulfill all those requests or were they just responses to requests? "No" is still a response.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: New research suggests that by cross-referencing your geographical data with that of your friends, it’s possible to predict your future whereabouts with a much higher degree of accuracy.

Riiiiiiight....

Hal wrote: Part of the reason my phone has no GPS, texting, or voicemail. It's just a phone.

If it's a cellphone, you can still triangulate it with tower data. Not to feed the paranoia, just saying.

Of course, if it's NOT a cellphone, it's also pretty easy to figure out your location when you use it

ALL cell phones within the last 4 (?) years have GPS built into them whether you think it does or doesn't. you can't neccessarily use it for navigation, but they can use it to find you

It's there so they can find you when you call 911

In reply to Anti-stance:

The paper was posted on slashdot. It was uncannily accurate. Creepy even.

Keith wrote: It's there so they can find you when you call 911

yeah, and that's all they will ever use it for.. they did the Scout salute and swore on their grandmama's grave when they made that promise.

I have zero issue with the government knowing where I am. I'm not breaking any laws, and I'm not expecting the gestapo to come knocking my door down anytime soon, so being trackable by the police seems like a totally acceptable tradeoff for all the benefits a modern smartphone offers.

As noted just about every cell has a GPS locator, even the dumb ones. The good: you can be located in the event of an accident etc. The bad: the Five-Oh can track you pretty easily. For that matter, there doesn't even need to be a GPS, if your phone is on it's constantly connected to a tower or towers so it's pretty easy to find out where you are.

It doesn't bother me since I am what's called a law abiding citizen. If you are really concerned about being traced, grab a prepaid burner and switch it out often.

Max_Archer wrote: ...I'm not expecting the gestapo to come knocking my door down anytime soon...

ALL cell phones within the last 4 (?) years have GPS built into them whether you think it does or doesn't.

Not everyone has a newer phone.

Max_Archer wrote: I have zero issue with the government knowing where I am. I'm not breaking any laws, and I'm not expecting the gestapo to come knocking my door down anytime soon, so being trackable by the police seems like a totally acceptable tradeoff for all the benefits a modern smartphone offers.

Sure, as long as we don't care about a little thing called "The Constitution".

I'm not breaking any laws either (well, except for speed limits ), but using these tracking tools without a warrant or probable cause is a direct violation of the 4th Amendment.

Failing to properly inform people they are carrying tracking devices is also VERY problematic.

Even in this thread, it's pretty clear users do not have a clear understanding of the potential uses of their cell phones.

George Orwell was a novice.

novaderrik wrote:

Keith wrote: It's there so they can find you when you call 911

yeah, and that's all they will ever use it for.. they did the Scout salute and swore on their grandmama's grave when they made that promise.

Hey you signed a contract... Did you read it?

Hal wrote: Part of the reason my phone has no GPS, texting, or voicemail. It's just a phone.

I'd say we should form a club,. but that would be somewhat self-defeating.

You can be tracked to a general location by triangulation of your signal - by definition your relative position must be known to route a call to you - with or without a GPS. In 2001 the FCC made it law that they have to be trackable (the guise of 911 calls noted above) so if you think you are "off the grid" because you have "just a phone" - you are kidding yourself. All you have is less exposure to marketing.

I thought everyone with a phone already knew this. Turn your phone off before going to buy your reefer.

Posted on my galaxy nexus.

Curmudgeon wrote: It doesn't bother me since I am what's called a law abiding citizen. If you are really concerned about being traced, grab a prepaid burner and switch it out often.

It's people with attitudes like this that really scare me. The "Only criminals should care about their rights" crowd are terrifying in their numbers.

If I call from my house phone..............they know where I'm making the call from!!!!!!!!!!!!

But seriously, we don't have a land line.

Unfortunately there isn't a d@mn thing we can do about it. Most of the general public is so frightened by criminals and terrorists they will give up anything to avert risk.

I wonder how many people who don't travel "because of the hassle of the TSA" are actually just afraid to fly because of a possible terrorist.

rotard wrote: I thought everyone with a phone already knew this. Turn your phone off before going to buy your reefer. Posted on my galaxy nexus.

Take the battery out before going to buy the cheeba. Off does not always mean OFF depending on the model you carry. Some are just sleeping and carrying on a conversation with their network sans any UI component.

Everyone should know this stuff - but they don't.

z31maniac wrote: Unfortunately there isn't a d@mn thing we can do about it.

There was a time looong ago, back in the distant 90s when jesus rode around on dinosaurs and the earth was still warm from creation that I would go hiking into the wilderness with nothing but a backpack and a compass. Even on motorcycle trips across several states. I survived to this very day despite having to find my way back out w/o navigation or instant road-side assistance. I admit - having to locate restaurants by dead reckoning was a chore but... I digress...

We can actually unplug. So, there is something we can do about it. Funny how that seems crazy to people less than 20yrs after the tech went mainstream in the first place.

keethrax wrote:

Curmudgeon wrote: It doesn't bother me since I am what's called a law abiding citizen. If you are really concerned about being traced, grab a prepaid burner and switch it out often.

It's people with attitudes like this that really scare me. The "Only criminals should care about their rights" crowd are terrifying in their numbers.

You have no real privacy.

You have a home address, Social Security number, ISP address (or you wouldn't be posting on teh int3rw3b), drivers license number, license tag on your car, bank account numbers, credit or debit card numbers, I could go on listing all day long. This means it is 100% possible to trace someone through that combination without getting anywhere near a GPS enabled cell. About the only way to not be traced is to quit using all those entirely, i.e. go 'off the grid' and even that is not 100% certain, see Ted Kaczynski.

Cash only transactions? Please. Cash has serial numbers; if it can be shown that you received a certain bill from, say, your bank and then that bill gets used an hour later at the gas station, why there is a trace right there. Back that up with the bank's and station's security camera footage, there's incontrovertible proof of your movements.

So what are you gonna do? Level the entire government, eliminate the credit card companies, turn off the Internet, etc etc etc?

Knee jerk types who don't think things all the way through scare me.

Curmudgeon wrote:

keethrax wrote:

Curmudgeon wrote: It doesn't bother me since I am what's called a law abiding citizen. If you are really concerned about being traced, grab a prepaid burner and switch it out often.

It's people with attitudes like this that really scare me. The "Only criminals should care about their rights" crowd are terrifying in their numbers.

You have no real privacy. You have a home address, Social Security number, ISP address (or you wouldn't be posting on teh int3rw3b), drivers license number, license tag on your car, bank account numbers, credit or debit card numbers, I could go on listing all day long. This means it is 100% possible to trace someone through that combination without getting anywhere near a GPS enabled cell. About the only way to not be traced is to quit using all those entirely, i.e. go 'off the grid' and even that is not 100% certain, see Ted Kaczynski. Cash only transactions? Please. Cash has serial numbers; if it can be shown that you received a certain bill from, say, your bank and then that bill gets used an hour later at the gas station, why there is a trace right there. Back that up with the bank's and station's security camera footage, there's incontrovertible proof of your movements. So what are you gonna do? Level the entire government, eliminate the credit card companies, turn off the Internet, etc etc etc? Knee jerk types who don't think things all the way through scare me.

That may be the most ridiculous Straw Man I've seen in a long, long time. Congrats.