Cell phone safety
- Thread starter genius
- Start date
Trust me - I know all about data storage capacity. There is no doubt in my mind that GPS data is added to call data whenever GPS data is available. However that is not the same as GPS data being continuously being recorded when calls or texts are not in progress, i.e., 24/7. A couple more incidentals: the amount of storage for text data,is on the order of bytes (total) for a a typical text message. Voice data is on the order of 10's of Kbytes per second.
I just feel just now (doesn't mean I'm right as phone data is not my area) that data is recorder continuously for every phone 24/7 when calls or texts are not being made.
I just feel just now (doesn't mean I'm right as phone data is not my area) that data is recorder continuously for every phone 24/7 when calls or texts are not being made.
Thanks. I wasn't sure what you were talking about but I understand now what you meant. I was confused. I guess the only real way to protect yourself is to leave the phone somewhere or turn it off. I wonder if just turning it off is enough or the battery needs to be pulled. As you know, today, a lot of phones don't have battery access so removing it would not be practical.
Genius, I didn't mean to insinuate that you don't know how the world works. I've learned more from your epistles than you ever would from mine!
I understand that location data is routinely recorded for posterity, whether or not a call is in progress. Location data is concise. Actual voice recordings are much more dense, as you say, and that's why only the NSA can afford to build a big enough data farm in Utah, as described in Wired magazine last year or so.
I understand that Big Brother has the ability to turn on powered-down phones and record what they might pick up. I don't think they do this for all phones, everywhere, all the time. (If someone's doing really bad stuff, they ought to remove the battery.) But I'm not in the NSA, either. I know just enough to separate fact from fiction when watching NCIS
I understand that location data is routinely recorded for posterity, whether or not a call is in progress. Location data is concise. Actual voice recordings are much more dense, as you say, and that's why only the NSA can afford to build a big enough data farm in Utah, as described in Wired magazine last year or so.
I understand that Big Brother has the ability to turn on powered-down phones and record what they might pick up. I don't think they do this for all phones, everywhere, all the time. (If someone's doing really bad stuff, they ought to remove the battery.) But I'm not in the NSA, either. I know just enough to separate fact from fiction when watching NCIS
Slinky/Popeye
The following is my opinion on phone mapping just from looking at some recorded map examples - if anyone here has technical expertise in this area please correct/add/ verify.
If you look at a typical recorded map (if the one I saw was typical) you will see that the data are not recorded continuously, but by (perhaps at least and maybe with some other criteria thrown in) some time period . The map data I saw consists of points connected by straight lines and not continuously unless the phone being tracked went via helicopter or driving through buildings to get from one point to another. This time period may be sufficient to identify you being at a certain place and time if you were there for greater than the sample period, e.g., you spent some time dumping a body along Ocean parkway or were at a motel for a period of time to see "a friend".
Whether or not there is sufficient data storage in NSA's "data farm(s)" to continuously record every cell phone and then index the data in order to find whether or not some discrimination criteria were met, e.g., find all phones that were at location X between time 12 pm and 12:02pm on June 2, 2014, is the big question - it is an astronomical amount of data and monumental task. It is another story to target a particular phone and record its location data or target a particular location and record the phones that were tracked by a tower and then target those phone's GPS location data.
NSA has powerful tools but keep in mind it took 10 years to find and kill Bin Laden (a 6"6" tall Arab on dialysis ).
The following is my opinion on phone mapping just from looking at some recorded map examples - if anyone here has technical expertise in this area please correct/add/ verify.
If you look at a typical recorded map (if the one I saw was typical) you will see that the data are not recorded continuously, but by (perhaps at least and maybe with some other criteria thrown in) some time period . The map data I saw consists of points connected by straight lines and not continuously unless the phone being tracked went via helicopter or driving through buildings to get from one point to another. This time period may be sufficient to identify you being at a certain place and time if you were there for greater than the sample period, e.g., you spent some time dumping a body along Ocean parkway or were at a motel for a period of time to see "a friend".
Whether or not there is sufficient data storage in NSA's "data farm(s)" to continuously record every cell phone and then index the data in order to find whether or not some discrimination criteria were met, e.g., find all phones that were at location X between time 12 pm and 12:02pm on June 2, 2014, is the big question - it is an astronomical amount of data and monumental task. It is another story to target a particular phone and record its location data or target a particular location and record the phones that were tracked by a tower and then target those phone's GPS location data.
NSA has powerful tools but keep in mind it took 10 years to find and kill Bin Laden (a 6"6" tall Arab on dialysis ).
There is no easy answer for how much is really captured.
Real-time tracking is almost impossible.
The wireless telco (verizon, att, etc) will have some retention period on the raw tower data-
and maybe roll it up in batch- but it won't be visible right away and
it may involve resources/cost to share with other agencies.
My guess is that size of the tower data is very small - so a lot can be
saved cheaply and stored for long periods of time.
The raw voice data is probably sampled at the backend data center with
different crew of analysts.
So it probably is possible to line all this up - within a certain window-
but there would have to be a good reason for the telco to do the work.
I have seen some articles about "dark" towers that could potentially do
much more - but their primary interest is probably not info on SPs-
but they probably get a kick out of listening to the conversations.
Real-time tracking is almost impossible.
The wireless telco (verizon, att, etc) will have some retention period on the raw tower data-
and maybe roll it up in batch- but it won't be visible right away and
it may involve resources/cost to share with other agencies.
My guess is that size of the tower data is very small - so a lot can be
saved cheaply and stored for long periods of time.
The raw voice data is probably sampled at the backend data center with
different crew of analysts.
So it probably is possible to line all this up - within a certain window-
but there would have to be a good reason for the telco to do the work.
I have seen some articles about "dark" towers that could potentially do
much more - but their primary interest is probably not info on SPs-
but they probably get a kick out of listening to the conversations.
Once location data is turned on you (or anyone with access to) your google account can see when/where
you have been. The good thing is that the accuracy varies - so I like to have a cover story for where I was-
ie there is a great deli in the same strip mall as the local RMP, and Redspa 21 happens to be very close to a
best buy in the city.
you have been. The good thing is that the accuracy varies - so I like to have a cover story for where I was-
ie there is a great deli in the same strip mall as the local RMP, and Redspa 21 happens to be very close to a
best buy in the city.
It gets more accurate all the time. The location returned uses a combination of the GPS, Wifi, and cell radios
with a backend database. I think IOS even uses the bluetooth radio as well.
I just saw the whole bluetooth beacon fiasco in the city. More and more of this is coming
which is going to make covering your tracks even more difficult.
with a backend database. I think IOS even uses the bluetooth radio as well.
I just saw the whole bluetooth beacon fiasco in the city. More and more of this is coming
which is going to make covering your tracks even more difficult.
There are a lot of things that most people don't even know about - for example the signs on the parkways and xways saying "10 minutes to RT 110" etc, are using the EZ-Pass in passing cars. For example to determine time from the sign to RT 110, the E-ZPass in a car is pinged and ID recorded when a car passes the sign and then again when that same ID passes RT 110 and the elapsed time calculated. So if wanted, they have the when and where of your E-ZPass .
I've often wondered why that hasn't been done even before E-ZPass. The NJ Turnpike and the Mass Pike, for example, give out time stamped tickets that are collected when you exit and pay up. This has been done I know at least since the 1960's (and maybe late 50's). Enforcement would be a trivial process - at the collection point - they have to calculate the toll anyway - why not the ave speed too. Plus it could be a real ticket - they know who the driver is. The only speeders they will miss are the ones that stop for a significant amount of time at the rest stops.
The problem with using the signs that ping your E-ZPass is as soon as that is known, drivers will only take out their E-ZPass when they have to go over a bridge or tunnel and put it in the little bag they send you (metal or metalized container works too.) to disable it and the signs will be useless as they won't get the data they need to calculate time.
The problem with using the signs that ping your E-ZPass is as soon as that is known, drivers will only take out their E-ZPass when they have to go over a bridge or tunnel and put it in the little bag they send you (metal or metalized container works too.) to disable it and the signs will be useless as they won't get the data they need to calculate time.
LE Radar gun that detects cell phone transmissions:
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014...ce-in-catching-people-who-text-while-driving/
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014...ce-in-catching-people-who-text-while-driving/