6 ms·

English is not my native language, but this is one of the few times I need help understanding the interview. Could you please explain what he means by: "I test

by listic 12y ago

English is not my native language, but this is one of the few times I need help understanding the interview. Could you please explain what he means by: "I testified actually twice -- once at the FCC, once in a congressional committee -- that if you required location tracking, I was going to give one up. ... I said I would give it up, and went ahead and did it."

xenophonf 12y ago
If FCC and Congress required location tracking, the guy was going to give up his mobile phone. He stated this in his testimony. FCC/Congress required location tracking. Greer gave up his mobile phone as a result.
- listic 12y ago
  "Gave up" as "stop using"? Did FCC and Congress require Greer to personally track himself? (Why?) Also, I find it wonderful that in USA you still have an option to use a pager. Many countries don't have it anymore, because all paging companies went out of business already.
  - nightpool 12y ago
    E911 location tracking is required on 95% of mobile phones in North America as of 2005. There are apparently similar rules in the EU, but Wikipedia isn't very forthcoming. (but yes, "gave up" as in "stopped using")
  - MaulingMonkey 12y ago
    > "Gave up" as "stop using"? Yes. > Did FCC and Congress require Greer to personally track himself? (Why?) I believe this is in the context of tracking cellphone users in general. This is used to support "Enhanced 9-1-1": When someone dials the emergency services, they can have a rough idea of where the caller is, even if the caller doesn't know where they are. Of course, there are plenty of more nefarious uses one can imagine as well.
- ghshephard 12y ago
  Most tracking by LEA is not done with GPS/Location tracking from the E-9-1-1 mandate, it's done via tracking with cellular base stations you are logging into. The GPS element is for emergency responders and only enhances the resolution a bit.

by listic 12y ago

xenophonf 12y ago

If FCC and Congress required location tracking, the guy was going to give up his mobile phone. He stated this in his testimony. FCC/Congress required location tracking. Greer gave up his mobile phone as a result.

listic 12y ago
"Gave up" as "stop using"? Did FCC and Congress require Greer to personally track himself? (Why?) Also, I find it wonderful that in USA you still have an option to use a pager. Many countries don't have it anymore, because all paging companies went out of business already.
- nightpool 12y ago
  E911 location tracking is required on 95% of mobile phones in North America as of 2005. There are apparently similar rules in the EU, but Wikipedia isn't very forthcoming. (but yes, "gave up" as in "stopped using")
- MaulingMonkey 12y ago
  > "Gave up" as "stop using"? Yes. > Did FCC and Congress require Greer to personally track himself? (Why?) I believe this is in the context of tracking cellphone users in general. This is used to support "Enhanced 9-1-1": When someone dials the emergency services, they can have a rough idea of where the caller is, even if the caller doesn't know where they are. Of course, there are plenty of more nefarious uses one can imagine as well.
ghshephard 12y ago
Most tracking by LEA is not done with GPS/Location tracking from the E-9-1-1 mandate, it's done via tracking with cellular base stations you are logging into. The GPS element is for emergency responders and only enhances the resolution a bit.