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

[davmazin]

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

 

[davmazin]

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

 

[DragonChase]

"what happens when you phone is off and you get a call? It says the phone is off.. so..im guessing they can "ping" your phone.. Yes? because you get back a message the subscriber can not be reached. "

No, it doesn't work that way. When you turn off your phone, it sends one last signal that tells the service provider that it has been powered-off. That's why you get different message if you powered-off the phone and different one if it went out of signal range.

As for a solution to tracking: after powering-off your cell phone just warp it in a tin foil. Yes. Tin foil. That simple.

I wonder if the remnant power in the foon after removing the battery would suffice for sending that ping!.

Also there is a kickstarter, i remember a while back for a foon cover that blocks EVERYTHING!. very nice!

 

[wysir]

The only way I can comprehend how this is possible is to create a 'reverse' EMP, putting a small amount of voltage into the atmosphere enabling power to bypass an on off switch and need for battery power. If you get just enough voltage to the GPS transponder, it would thus 'ping' GPS device locations.

 

[davmazin]

Removing the battery is the only option? what about removing the sim card (GMS), unless they are dectecting power or energy sources they cant detect you since you would be like a computer without internect access or access to any network

 

[davmazin]

Removing the battery is the only option? what about removing the sim card (GMS), unless they are dectecting power or energy sources they cant detect you since you would be like a computer without internect access or access to any network

 

[davmazin]

Removing the battery is the only option? what about removing the sim card (GMS), unless they are dectecting power or energy sources they cant detect you since you would be like a computer without internect access or access to any network

 

[NannyBoy]

These phones are like PCs with 'soft power' off, meaning they're not REALLY off when the power button is pressed, this I know from personal experience. To seriously power it down - take out the battery and wait for any residual power to drain.

Also, the phone companies, which may be 'in bed' with the NSA are probably not being 100% honest about 'not knowing how'. They know.

 

[HarryForbes]

Yep, big brother is definitely here ! Sometimes i think our governments think that their citizens are the enemy ! Somewhere along the line they have forgotten their premise is to serve and NOT watch ! Quite sad really, all this monitoring does not seem to stop incidents like 9/11 or other terrorist attacks. Unfortunately due to government secrecy we cannot monitor them either and they demonise people who try who reveal their prying.

 

[cowabonga]

This is why you buy phones that have removable batteries. People who poo poo phones with removable batteries just don't get it. Just because they're too stupid to realize what our glorious guvment do, they automatically think removable batteries are not needed.

 

[TerrenceH]

I hate to ruin the party but yes a phone can be tracked even if the battery has been removed. Any device that incorporates an antenna system is traceable. We have know about this way before 2004, it was only 2004 that equipment was put in place so that low frequency energy waves could be radiated into the air. The equipment can either be transmitted from a radio from air plain, or dropped in at night to be more precise for location tracking. Those so called experts at Nokia and Samsung know full in well that those are fundamental flaws of electronics that incorporate a antenna. The laws of electromagnetism dictate this fundamental flaw which you cannot counter for unless you put an actual disconnect switch between the receiver and the processor of the device. and if you wont to know more about this google Tesla s experiments on energy transfer through the air experiments. It is how we can put RFID tags in store items without the need for batteries.. get it,, good so now you know..

 

[NeoplasmSix]

I suspect it may be something to do with this: http/www.osnews.com/story/27416/The_second_operating_system_hiding_in_every_mobile_phone not sure about the power aspect though

 

[TerrenceH]

Well when they say track a phone while it is powered off means you cannot use the ability to send data nor receive data in a manor that you would consider useful. However we do not need the phone to be on or the battery to be connected. The reason why is because the phone manufacturer dose not make the transmitter / receiver. that market share has been cornered by Qualcomm. The possessor that controls data flow to the phone manufacturer SOIC. This Chip and the circuit design requires a very small amount of energy to operate, Every Chip has a registered ID, A radio wave is just energy traveling at a frequency of oscillation. The Antenna captures the energy it was tuned for and focuses the energy through a circuit of capacitance, when the capacitance has reached it's saturation level it will release the energy into the processor of the receiver / transmitter, From there it is enough energy to charge the system and jump start a subroutine designed into the silicon. What happens next is it will broadcast it's cereal ID. and that is all that is needed. When NSA gets a lead on a cellphones ID it can look for its chirp roaming through out the cellular network. its that simple, and if there is no cellular network access then the military can provide that by dropping in equipment that only has to be the size of a 12Volt lantern battery. On a side note Birds vision can see the electromagnetic waves traveling north and south on the earth and so can we with satellites and other surveillance devices. The real problem is chip manufactures with the ability to make smaller and smaller architecture will require little to no energy what so ever. it will either get it from your body or the earth.

 

[frostbyte3864]

For all you "smart" folks who think the article is wrong, keep living in your little world where you think you know all that goes on and how to do it. Snowden is going to get in serious trouble the more he releases. If you have a fear of being tracked, don't use or find yourself around any technology. That is all you should worry about. Oh, then there's all the humint, drones, sigint, etc. The government will do what they can to "keep us safe". Removing a battery won't help you either. If you have a phone, you can be traced.