LAW: Wireless interception

Mike Godwin mnemonic at eff.org
Sun Nov 14 22:10:18 PST 1993


Phil Karn writes:
 
> Mike is correct that early models of cordless phones could often be
> picked up on broadcast radios. Their base stations transmitted just
> above the AM broadcast band (in the 1.7 Mhz region). Since then, all
> new cordless phones operate on the 46 and 49 Mhz bands, which
> generally require a scanner to receive.
> 
> However, cell phones still operate in what used to be UHF TV channels
> 70-83, and it is still possible in some cases to intercept cell phone
> calls on a UHF TV set. So much for *that* theory. :-)

Actually, all this shows is that the drafters of ECPA didn't anticipate
that TV watchers would use their TVs to overhear cellular conversations.


--Mike









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