This pretty much kiboshes the idea that they might be continuously broadcasting; I'm more concerned about the idea that there may be some signal they're passively listening for, to which they will *respond* with a pulse signalling their location. Bear On Mon, 8 Jan 2001, Phillip H. Zakas wrote:
Hi,
I don't believe cell phones can be queried while they're off. The phone has to xmit a pulse (to hear a pulse, crank up your PC speakers, turn on your cell phone and place it within 3 inces of a speaker...you'll hear the speakers produce static at a regular interval [about every 30 seconds or so with my startac]). In an unscientific study, I've placed my cell phone, turned off, next to the speakers and not heard the familiar pulse. Also since you posed the question I ripped open my recently acquired Motorolla Timeport. Not seeing any activity in the xmit circuitry when the battery is plugged in and the power is turned off. Of course I'm having trouble putting the case back on the phone correctly but I'll figure that out later ;)
phillip zakas
-----Original Message----- X-Loop: openpgp.net From: Ray Dillinger [mailto:bear@sonic.net] Sent: Monday, January 08, 2001 11:10 AM To: Phillip Zakas Cc: Multiple recipients of list Subject: RE: cell phone anonymity
On Mon, 8 Jan 2001, Phillip Zakas wrote:
Just a minor correction to the below posting: cell phone locations are NOT calculated using GPS. They're triangulated via the three nearest cell
sites
reading the cell phone signal. Accuracy is much lower than with GPS, but good enough for cops to, say, find a stranded motorist on a highway. I believe resolution is somewhere around 40 meters in densely populated areas (where there are many cell phone towers). This resolution figure varies from region to region.
Hm. Okay. I knew there were locators in them, and had assumed that they were GPS. My mistake.
Does anyone know any particulars about whether these phones can be queried for their locations while not in use?
IMHO, the real privacy issue with cell phones is the security of a conversation.
Yes indeed. Privacy is a tougher thing to achieve than anonymity, at least with cell phones.
Bear