5 ms·

1) Yes, your phone regularly communicates with the nearest cell towers and the phone company can't help but know which one. However, this is imprecise - resolut

1) Yes, your phone regularly communicates with the nearest cell towers and the phone company can't help but know which one. However, this is imprecise - resolution of a few blocks. 2) Most smartphones have GPS-based location services that use, well GPS, plus the combination of WiFi networks and their signal strengths. To get reasonable speed, this data needs to be cached locally, but only the data for where you've actually been can fit. This is the reason for the huge fallout a couple years ago about "Your iPhone is tracking your movements!" This cache can be read with physical access (and the device's PIN). 3) Yes, turning off the phone will do that. Unless you are a specific target, in which case law enforcement may have issued a software update just for you that makes the phone only appear to shut down. The only way to be sure is to take out the battery or not takke te phone with you.

keithpeter 12y ago
Under your heading 3) I'm just wondering how long it is before someone makes a copper coated metal tin just the right size for each make of smart phone. Just open the lid when you want to make a call or 'sync' with your network of friends. Could be fun if it went viral. Could even have pictures of your favourite politician on the lid, Theresa May for the UK model I imagine.
- superuser2 12y ago
  >Just open the lid when you want to make a call If it became normal to put your phone in a Faraday cage while not making a call, no one would answer calls, and there would be no point in making them :).
  - keithpeter 12y ago
    An added benefit :-) Seriously: observation on my daily commute suggests that actually making phone calls is a minority use of the mobiles that people spend all the journey stroking and looking at.
    - superuser2 12y ago
      Public transit is an inappropriate place to make a voice call. People still do it at home all the time.
Zigurd 12y ago
I do not think an "update" is needed. All of the functionality for a room bug is in all baseband processors: control of alerting on an offering call, control over LEDs and display lighting (or telling an application processor about an offering call), connecting, speakerphone, etc. All that is needed is knowledge of what is probably an extension of the GSM call control messages, and the ability to inject that message into the telephone network.
graycat 12y ago
Thanks.

keithpeter 12y ago

Under your heading 3) I'm just wondering how long it is before someone makes a copper coated metal tin just the right size for each make of smart phone. Just open the lid when you want to make a call or 'sync' with your network of friends. Could be fun if it went viral. Could even have pictures of your favourite politician on the lid, Theresa May for the UK model I imagine.

superuser2 12y ago
>Just open the lid when you want to make a call If it became normal to put your phone in a Faraday cage while not making a call, no one would answer calls, and there would be no point in making them :).
- keithpeter 12y ago
  An added benefit :-) Seriously: observation on my daily commute suggests that actually making phone calls is a minority use of the mobiles that people spend all the journey stroking and looking at.
  - superuser2 12y ago
    Public transit is an inappropriate place to make a voice call. People still do it at home all the time.

Zigurd 12y ago

I do not think an "update" is needed. All of the functionality for a room bug is in all baseband processors: control of alerting on an offering call, control over LEDs and display lighting (or telling an application processor about an offering call), connecting, speakerphone, etc. All that is needed is knowledge of what is probably an extension of the GSM call control messages, and the ability to inject that message into the telephone network.

graycat 12y ago

Thanks.