UrbanMan replies: I am not going to get into depth on this issue, but I'll tell you this,....The government cannot listen to cell phones unless they get a Title III warrant. If you thinking that Law Enforcement agencies routinely violate this, like you see in the movies, then you are ill informed. Not only would an agent or officer lose his job, he/she will go to jail and be open to a Federal Tort Claims in which his/her (former) agency would NOT provide legal resources to fight. However, it is important for Survivalists to understand the adaptation, restrictions and "two edged sword: nature of technology,....just in the rare chance a severe form of a police state being implemented and impacting on us. I don't think this will happen, but I don't think we'll face an EMP attack either, but that does not stop me from thinking about.
Some phones that take pictures will embed a meta file in the photo which provide a geographic coordinate from where the picture was taken. Useful if the government seizes a phone showing suspects sitting on a couch giving gang signs with narcotics on the coffee table. The way these photographs are downloaded is through a Universal Forensics Extraction Device (called a UFED), the most common being a Cellebrite, which you local cellular provider has in order to clone phones when you upgrade. The UFED can also download text messages and phone number lists.
There is nothing to stop the government from finding your phone through identifying your signal and determining where that signal is coming from using direction finding equipment and digital mapping programs working in tandem. This is some of what Signals Intelligence people do in the armed services as well.
There is software that can be loaded onto a phone to turn it into a "hot microphone" without the owners knowledge. Again this is restricted to a Title III warrant.
You can remove battery and usually be safe, however it is fairly easy to install a small battery that will power the phone for several hours, from which it can be "pinged" in order to gain a geographic coordinate or at the very least a line of bearing from an intercept
The web enabled phone are great for convenience, but they present additional problems with the ability to download a program into the phone via a wireless connection. In fact, there is a new market for regular, non-web enabled phones due to their simplicity and lower costs. These are safer.
The cell phone jammer? They'll work if it is on the dash of your car and your front seat passenger is trying to make a call, but outside of a few feet the commercially available to the public cell phone jammers are a waste of money. Hell, just turn the radio up!
Be aware of how technology is used; be aware of identity theft possibilities and you can be measurably safer.
The bigger risk for everyone is texting. 100% of your texting must be saved by the phone companies and can be subpoenaed to be used in a legal action. What you text and what others text to you never goes away.
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth there is an alphabet agency that monitors all cell and landline phone. They also monitor the internet. They do this with computers and it is incredibly unlikely a human at the agency would listen in or read what you posted using the internet. But the point is that to the extent possible they monitor 100% of these technologies. There is so much traffic that failing the filter testing for specific things it is all discarded. No one is keeping recording of your conversations unless something very specific triggers a human to intercede.
One of the greatest inventions of all times is the cellular phone. With this wonderful gadget, we can stay in touch with our loved ones, friends and acquaintances anywhere at any time.
ReplyDeleteHowever, how sure are we of our cell phone security? What are the risks associated with cell phones and its uses?
Conversations transmitted through radio frequencies can be easily intercepted. You are more secure if you use digital and personal communications service phones. Communications on digital phones are encoded, transmitted in various frequencies then scrambled making it more difficult to intercept.
In case your cell phone is stolen, contact your provider as soon as possible and request for your service to be suspended. Providers offer different security policies about charges incurred after the phone was stolen. To prevent further charges, report the loss immediately.
Cell Phone Jammers