NSA Tracks Turned-Off Phones — But Phone Makers Don't Know How

[ddpruitt]

The article is pure bunk designed to sell papers. When powered down the phone can't be tracked. The OS unloads all of the drivers so it isn't done in software (unless you think the NSA is willing to build OS drivers for all the devices out there) and the radios are powered down. You can't ping a signal off of the device to figure out were it is. First of all GPS decoding is done on device, and as anyone who's ever done Navigation knows, this is a massive power drain. You can't ping the transceivers because the phone has to be in a sleep state in order to respond. Etc, etc, etc.

As for the phone receiving calls, well it's not powered down at that point, just in standby.

If you really need proof that the device can't be tracked turned it off and see how long your battery lasts.

 

[dogofwars]

"Simple", they change the radio firmware bypassing the power off or again they make sur at the hardware level is different than on paper but that would need to be implemented by the manufactuer of the chip. Only way to find out is to reverse engineer the radio chip part.

 

[Simon Anderson]

Well obviously they are able to (spy when off), because on The Wire, Homeland, Scandal etc they snap their phones in half after use

 

[dogofwars]

"Simple", they change the radio firmware bypassing the power off or again they make sur at the hardware level is different than on paper but that would need to be implemented by the manufactuer of the chip. Only way to find out is to reverse engineer the radio chip part.

 

[FFH]

This is why they always break a phone instead of removing the sim or battery in Breaking Bad.

 

[Simon Anderson]

Well obviously they are able to (spy when off), because on The Wire, Homeland, Scandal etc they snap their phones in half after use

 

[ipwn3r456]

So next time you lost your phone, don't ask your carrier, or the manufacturer, ask the NSA to do it for you...

 

[garrick]

My guess is they've hacked users phones so that when they press the off button all it really does is go into standby so it seems like its off but its not and continues to communicate with the cell towers.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

IIRC It's something to do with there still being parts of the phone in standby.

Yet another reason to get a phone with a removable battery, if there's any chance you'd ever want to do this.

 

[NuclearShadow]

While the common person may not be constantly monitored to a personal level I do wonder how much the NSA tracks journalists or other people within the media. With how extreme they have become with trying to stop whistle blowers they could spy on journalists to make sure a story never comes out.

 

[teh_chem]

This claim is easy enough to check; any sort of tracking would involve some sort of signal; just scan for RF, assuming it's RF. And assuming all phones do this all the time when powered off.

I'd like to call shenanigans, but I honestly don't know what to think anymore.

 

[Grandmastersexsay]

There is no spyware that could accomplish this, not without a ton of people finding out about it. There is no resonating frequency modern marvel thing going on either.

The answer is very very simple.


Ericsson, Google, Nokia and Samsung are lying!

There is no way for the NSA to accomplish this without direct involvement and assistance from the manufacturer, end of discussion.

The next discussion should be why are we giving these fascist our business?

 

[Darkk]

I think this is myth is probable for wide variety of reasons. When the phone is off the radio portion is powered down so it can't by definition able to track it unless there is a hidden code that on occasion turns the radio on to transmit and then powers off again to prevent suspicion on battery drain. Everything that it needs to track your phone needs power for radio, GPS and CPU. Obviously the display won't be used since don't want to alert the user.

In order see if this is true by turning the phone off for a week after charging the battery to 100%. A week later it should only lose maybe 2% of battery power. If it drops to like 75% and more then your phone is bugged or real old battery.

 

[dizzy_davidh]

I could think of a dozen ways using existing tech that this could be done, several more if tech makers have been in collusion and added backdoors (highly likely) and a few more that are unlikely to be achievable for a while yet... BUT... almost all will not be possible if a devices power source is conpletely removed and any and all capacitance has dissipated from the device (think micro- nicad battery hidden in your device that could hold and use it's charge for nefarious purposes). That being said un-powered devices can be made active with minimal power or ambient EM radiotion (think nfc).

 

[CrestfallenDesign]

Just because their phone is off, doesnt mean you cant see them updating their facebook from their tablet.

 

[CrestfallenDesign]

Just because their phone is off, doesnt mean you cant see them updating their facebook from their tablet.

 

[cats_Paw]

Yep... everyone knows even from movies that you need to remove a battery.
In order for a Cell phone to be able to turn "on" the battery must keep it on a standby mode.

There is a chance that that is enought for the NSA to track that phone.

 

[mariusmotea]

Is so natural to be traked in this days, and this is only because of USA, the country of freadom

 

[axefire0]

Proof?

http/abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2006/12/can_you_hear_me/

 

[davmazin]

Only the battery? and what about taking out your gms chip meaning that the phone has no network access at all?