3 ms·

Any source for that? Not doubting what you have said, but genuinely curious.

• SturgeonsLaw 5y ago
  > By September 2004, a new NSA technique enabled the agency to find cellphones even when they were turned off. JSOC troops called this “The Find,” and it gave them thousands of new targets, including members of a burgeoning al-Qaeda-sponsored insurgency in Iraq, according to members of the unit. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-growth-fueled-by-need-to-target-terrorists/2013/07/21/24c93cf4-f0b1-11e2-bed3-b9b6fe264871_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-g... The NSA has had the capability to track switched-off phones since 2004, so it's fair to assume that a number of actors, nation-state and otherwise, can also do it now Edit: changed to a better source
  • rixed 5y ago
    Very interesting indeed, and cast a new light on the trend to solder batteries in place. I was able to find this article about how this could work: https://privacyinternational.org/blog/1357/tech-companies-respond-reports-nsa-tracking-switched-mobile-phones https://privacyinternational.org/blog/1357/tech-companies-re... Apparently this relies on a software hijacking so that the phone is not really off. Another, actually better article: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130723/12395923907/even-powering-down-cell-phone-cant-keep-nsa-tracking-its-location.shtml https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130723/12395923907/even-... also points to malware injection. This corroborates what I've heard here and there while working in the GSM industry: you could trust a phone that's turned off, if only you could trust it being actually turned off.