Keep up with UCAN.org by following us on Twitter!

Thanks for visiting UCAN.org! Please remember our services are available because of grassroots donations from people like you. Please help us continue our work with a donation of any amountClick here to visit our secure donation page.

Telecommunications

Verizon's Confusing Data Plans

If I hadn't been working on Michael Shames' new Range Extender (blog to come) I would not have known that one of the PDA phones on my Verizon Family share plan was being charged $15/mo too much for Internet access.

First let me say that I'm not picking on Verizon. If money was no object I'd have phones on T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, and Cricket as well, so I could compare quality and customer service. But I don't, so Verizon is all I know. I've been on their network (under at least 3 former names) since the late 1990's and I like CDMA and I like the coverage overall. In my experience, their customer service is no worse than other larger companies and better than some.

So, there I was, on the phone with a Verizon data rep, trying to configure Michael's femtocell when he pointed out that there are 2 plans that let a SmartPhone like my Omnia, my friend's Treo, the Sage, the Touch Pro, etc. connect to the Internet and get web pages, get email, download files, do remote access of Windows computers, and other things like you'd do from your home Internet connection. Same for BlackBerry phones but they call it something different. The $30 plan (I'm rounding here) does everything I'd need and allows unlimited usage (5GB if connected as a modem ("tethered" - see blog posting, 4th paragraph) to a laptop or other device). But my plan and my friend's plan have had data for a couple years now. Turns out in January 2009 they came up with this second plan and, at least in my experience, didn't go out of their way to let users know about this. As I understand it the difference between the plan is pretty much whether you're going to use Verizon's network to sync your phone to your PC remotely - same as connecting your phone to your PC via ethernet and synchronizing your files and email but instead you're doing this wireLESSly via the Internet. This isn't something I nor my friend do so we could use the $30 vs the $45 plans.

Tethering Equalizes Things
For reasons not plain to me, if you elect to tether your Smartphone to your laptop so the phone can provide Internet connectivity, the plans wind up costing the same:

Unlimited Data Usage plan:               $45 + $15 to tether = $60
Email and Web for Smartphone Plan:  $30 + $30 to tether = $60

So in my case it didn't make any difference - it's $60 either way. But my friend does not tether so he's been charged $15 more per month than he should have been since January. I will take this up with Verizon and let you know how they handled it.

Plan to Look at Your Plan
This is a good time to suggest that, whatever your carrier, you log in to your web site, or call them, and confirm that you really understand what plan and options you've got. Once you're SURE you're clear (and don't be timid if you're not - they really seem to make this whole process counterintuitive for the consumer) you should write it down in your own words, with the name of the rep if you spoke to someone, for future reference.

In trying to find out what the 2 data plans are on Verizon's web site, to prepare this post, I went all over Hell's Half Acre and could find nothing. I finally got a Verizon rep on the phone and we determined that these data plan names aren't listed along with the voice plans. This is because, believe it or not, if you buy a Smartphone, you MUST buy a data plan. You might say "Big Whoop" since most people buying Smartphones WANT data. But one could conceivably buy a SmartPhone just for Word Mobile and  only wish to sync mail and contacts via USB cable. They'd still have to buy a data plan.

To see what these plans are, you'd need to go to http://www.verizonwireless.com then picka phone (Phones > PDAs&Smartphones), then Add To Cart then Pick A Plan (the default will suffice for research) then, finally, you can see the data plans. For reference, here's what they say:

Unlimited Data Usage:
Synchronize your mobile PDA or Smartphone to your PC with PDA/Smartphone from Verizon Wireless, providing over-the-air synchronization of e-mail, contacts, calendar, and tasks. Service available within the NationalAccess or, with certain devices, the Mobile Broadband service area.

Email and Web for Smartphone:
Use your PDA/Smartphone for personal email and Web surfing.
* Access up to ten POP3 and IMAP email accounts, including Yahoo!® Mail, AOL® Mail, Windows Live® Hotmail®, and Verizon.net.
* Easy email account setup.
* Unlimited Web Browsing
* Voice Usage: Per your voice calling plan.

The difference isn't real plain to ME. Bottom line - if you have a Verizon Smartphone and you don't tether and you're not doing sync or using this in a business environment, be sure you have the $30 plan and consider asking for a refund retroactive to your January 2009 bill if you never needed the $45 plan.

Filed Under
Communications: Wireless -

Sprint cell phone user reported massive international Mexico roaming charges even though calls were made from the United States

Cell phone users along the Mexican border from San Diego to Brownsville have reported being billed for international roaming calls that originate in the United States.

A current Sprint customer was charged for overlapping international roaming calls and charged for calls that appear to be made at the same time on both sides of the border. Many of the alleged calls were to the same unknown numbers for which the customer and his family had no connection.  UCAN checked the billing history and also called the unknown numbers to see if these numbers were connected to the customer or his family in any way. Furthermore, the customer's bill showed a 6-minute call at 12:54 pm, a 1-minute call made at 12:56 pm, a 10-minute call made at 12:57 pm and another 1-minute call made at 1:05 pm.  The first call overlapped the 2nd and 3rd calls by 3 minutes.  The 3rd call overlapped the 4th call by 2 minutes. 

If you are a Sprint customer near the border and charged international roaming for calls made while in the United States, or similar issues, please let us know by filling out our Telephone Bill Complaint Form. Please also fill out the complaint form if you have been a victim of international roaming to Mexico while in the United States while using another cell phone provider, such as Verizon, T-Mobile or AT&T (formerly Cingular).

 

From west to east, border crossings include the following:

  • San Diego, California (San Ysidro) – Tijuana, Baja California (San Diego-Tijuana Metro.)
  • Otay Mesa, California – Tijuana, Baja California
  • Tecate, California – Tecate, Baja California
  • Calexico, California – Mexicali, Baja California
  • Calexico, California (Eastern border checkpoint) – Mexicali, Baja California
  • Andrade, California – Los Algodones, Baja California
  • San Luis, Arizona – San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora
  • Lukeville, Arizona – Sonoita, Sonora
  • Sasabe, Arizona – Altar, Sonora
  • Nogales, Arizona – Nogales, Sonora
  • Naco, Arizona – Naco, Sonora
  • Douglas, Arizona – Agua Prieta, Sonora
  • Antelope Wells, New Mexico – El Berrendo, Chihuahua
  • Columbus, New Mexico – Puerto Palomas, Chihuahua
  • Santa Teresa, New Mexico – San Jerónimo, Chihuahua
  • El Paso, Texas – Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua
  • Fabens, Texas – Práxedis G. Guerrero, Chihuahua
  • Presidio, Texas – Ojinaga, Chihuahua
  • Heath Canyon, Texas – La Linda, Coahuila (closed)
  • Del Rio, Texas – Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila
  • Eagle Pass, Texas – Piedras Negras, Coahuila
  • Laredo, Texas – Colombia, Nuevo León
  • Laredo, Texas – Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas
  • Falcon Heights, Texas – Presa Falcón, Tamaulipas
  • Roma, Texas – Ciudad Miguel Alemán, Tamaulipas
  • Rio Grande City, Texas – Ciudad Camargo, Tamaulipas
  • Mission, Texas – Reynosa, Tamaulipas (future)
  • Hidalgo, Texas – Reynosa, Tamaulipas
  • Pharr, Texas – Reynosa, Tamaulipas
  • Progreso Lakes, Texas – Nuevo Progreso, Tamaulipas
  • Los Indios, Texas – Matamoros, Tamaulipas
  • Brownsville, Texas – Matamoros, Tamaulipas.
Filed Under
Communications: Wireless -

Bluetooth Gone Wild: A Compromised Phone or a Phony Prank?

So I'm sitting there at the car wash, trying to get my Omnia smartphone to tether to my laptop via Bluetooth (for Internet access via my cellular provider) when I see the attached Bluetooth Device Selection window. Scary stuff, eh kids?

BLuetooth Device Selection window showing YOU GOT VIRUS

For the uninitiated, I was trying to get my laptop to discover my phone. Just like you can tell your laptop to show you all the WiFi signals in the area, you can see all the Bluetooth devices within range. When you see your phone, headset, PC, etc, in the list, you pick it and then "pair" with it. The 1st 2 items I was already paired with but the 3rd one was a surprise: a cell phone with a Bluetooth device name of YOU GOT VIRUS.

Well at first I was a little concerned about my phone but I shut it off and rescanned and the potentially deleterious disconcerting device remained. I spoke up to the other folks waiting for their cars and asked if anyone had a BT phone and a couple people said they did but nobody seemed to care, which surprised me.

Chances are good that whatever phone had this name was not infected. I asked San Diego Verizon data tech and wireless guru Rene Wilcox about this subject the other day in conjunction to another post I've put up about people being tracked surreptitiously using the GPS in their phones (http://www.ucan.org/blog/telecommunications/communications_technology/who_needs_a_private_eye_when_youve_got_a_cell_phone). I wanted to know if she knew of any way that a rogue application could be installed and launched without your knowledge assuming you have your phone on your person all the time. She said no. If you downloaded something nefarious from the web, it would ask for permission to be installed. What if someone tried to pair their device with your phone via Bluetooth? Most devices ask for your OK and need a passcode though it's a good idea to tell your phone not to be "discoverable" unless you are pairing it.

I asked about the Paris Hilton Address Book Affair. She said that she knew of no way that someone could download a person's address book or other phone contents by Bluetooth without some prior access - for example if a person stole the phone while the owner wasn't looking, paired it to their phone, downloaded info, then returned it undetected. But she made a important observation: if you take your phone to have the data copied to a new phone, at any cellular store, for any carrier, the data remains in the computer device that does the transfer, even after you are done at the store. So, if you're a celeb, be sure that the machine is cleared or shut off before you leave.

So, in this case, rather than being infected, I suspect that the owner named the phone YOU HAVE VIRUS as a joke (and was sitting there smirking as I asked around) or maybe a geek buddy did it while she wasn't watching. Even still, it caught me off guard. Not something you run across every day.

BTW: according to TabloidColumn.com http://www.tabloidcolumn.com/paris-hilton-hacked.html (a trusted source of major breaking news), a 17 year old hacked into Paris Hilton's T-mobile online account, not into her phone.

Filed Under
Communications: Wireless -

Cell Yourself

Maybe you've dropped your landline and ported to it the number you've had for decades like I have. Now you're reliant on your cell phone much more. Now the call quality at your home or business is more significant - I mean a quick call to order Chinese is not a big deal (unless they miss the “not spicy!” part during a dropout) but a half-hour call to your Mom peppered with “hello? hello?” can get old fast. If you have Internet access where you are, you may have an answer to this problem depending on your cell carrier.

Prompted by an article by Jonathan Sidener in the April 19 2009 San Diego Union-Tribune, I wanted to tell you about the concept of having your OWN cell site.

The reason that this whole thing is called “cellular” is that it was designed to use geographically small areas of radio coverage. In comparison, the old mobile phone system they had before (IMTS, http://www.privateline.com/PCS/mobilephonepictures.htm ) had radio towers up on mountaintops so they'd go as far a possible. Analog cellular and the current PCS system have lots of small radio “footprints” and if you look at a map of these areas they look like cells in a beehive. As you move around town you get “handed off” from one cell to another so the carriers have better control over the calls.

Obviously, it makes economic sense for the carriers to spend money and put up towers where they will serve the most customers. If your home or office is shadowed from the closest tower or is simply in The Boonies, you may have little or no coverage. Now, you can install a “femtocell” in your home to add or enhance coverage there. Think of this box as a WiFi Access Point except that it works on the cellular service frequencies and is made to talk to cell phones and not WiFi clients.

Your Personal Cell Tower Phones Home
Once your cell phone finds the femtocell in your midst, the unit carries your voice to and from your cellular carrier via the Internet. This might introduce a little bit of delay or occasional dropout if your voice packets are competing for resources with web pages, email, attachments, and other things going over your Internet connection at the same time. But it's surely better than dropped - or NO - calls and the faster your Internet connection, the better the calls will sound.

Different carriers have different offerings and plans. Info from various people and web sites:

T-mobile: not in the near future

AT&T: apparently in the works but the local data rep didn't want to comment.

SPRINT “Airrave”: The rep at the San Diego area Carmel Mountain store says it's $100 for the unit + $5/mo (rental fee) for a maximum of  3 simultaneous calls and a maximum of 50 EINs (individual phones) that can be used with it. Doesn't work with Air Cards but I'm not clear if it supplies Internet to an Internet enabled phone like an iPhone. This snippet from their web site seems to say that such phones are supported at about 20% the speed of full EV-DO:

Does the Sprint AIRAVE support Sprint Mobile Broadband (EVDO)? AIRAVE does not currently support Sprint Mobile Broadband (EVDO) data speeds. Your mobile device will continue to receive Sprint Mobile Broadband (EVDO) services directly from the Nationwide Sprint Network while within range of the AIRAVE. [If no EVDO is available nearby] Your mobile device will use the AIRAVE for data services with a maximum data throughput of 153.8 Kbps. 

Verizon Network Extender: $250 to purchase, no fees, no contract. Covers 5000 sf. Lindsey Sanford, San Diego data rep, says they are available overnight and will provide Internet to a smartphone but not to an Air Card. I hope to get my hands on one and will supplement this posting with speed info.

ADDENDUM (5/21/09): Read about my TeleGeekazoid fun with a Verizon Network Extender here

Filed Under
Communications: Wireless - Communications Technology -

Cell Yourself

Maybe you've dropped your landline and ported to it the number you've had for decades like I have. Now you're reliant on your cell phone much more. Now the call quality at your home or business is more significant - I mean a quick call to order Chinese is not a big deal (unless they miss the “not spicy!” part during a dropout) but a half-hour call to your Mom peppered with “hello? hello?” can get old fast. If you have Internet access where you are, you may have an answer to this problem depending on your cell carrier.

Prompted by an article by Jonathan Sidener in the April 19 2009 San Diego Union-Tribune, I wanted to tell you about the concept of having your OWN cell site.

The reason that this whole thing is called “cellular” is that it was designed to use geographically small areas of radio coverage. In comparison, the old mobile phone system they had before (IMTS, http://www.privateline.com/PCS/mobilephonepictures.htm ) had radio towers up on mountaintops so they'd go as far a possible. Analog cellular and the current PCS system have lots of small radio “footprints” and if you look at a map of these areas they look like cells in a beehive. As you move around town you get “handed off” from one cell to another so the carriers have better control over the calls.

Obviously, it makes economic sense for the carriers to spend money and put up towers where they will serve the most customers. If your home or office is shadowed from the closest tower or is simply in The Boonies, you may have little or no coverage. Now, you can install a “femtocell” in your home to add or enhance coverage there. Think of this box as a WiFi Access Point except that it works on the cellular service frequencies and is made to talk to cell phones and not WiFi clients.

Your Personal Cell Tower Phones Home
Once your cell phone finds the femtocell in your midst, the unit carries your voice to and from your cellular carrier via the Internet. This might introduce a little bit of delay or occasional dropout if your voice packets are competing for resources with web pages, email, attachments, and other things going over your Internet connection at the same time. But it's surely better than dropped - or NO - calls and the faster your Internet connection, the better the calls will sound.

Different carriers have different offerings and plans. Info from various people and web sites:

T-mobile: not in the near future

AT&T: apparently in the works but the local data rep didn't want to comment.

SPRINT “Airrave”: The rep at the San Diego area Carmel Mountain store says it's $100 for the unit + $5/mo (rental fee) for a maximum of  3 simultaneous calls and a maximum of 50 EINs (individual phones) that can be used with it. Doesn't work with Air Cards but I'm not clear if it supplies Internet to an Internet enabled phone like an iPhone. This snippet from their web site seems to say that such phones are supported at about 20% the speed of full EV-DO:

Does the Sprint AIRAVE support Sprint Mobile Broadband (EVDO)? AIRAVE does not currently support Sprint Mobile Broadband (EVDO) data speeds. Your mobile device will continue to receive Sprint Mobile Broadband (EVDO) services directly from the Nationwide Sprint Network while within range of the AIRAVE. [If no EVDO is available nearby] Your mobile device will use the AIRAVE for data services with a maximum data throughput of 153.8 Kbps. 

Verizon Network Extender: $250 to purchase, no fees, no contract. Covers 5000 sf. Lindsey Sanford, San Diego data rep, says they are available overnight and will provide Internet to a smartphone but not to an Air Card. I hope to get my hands on one and will supplement this posting with speed info.

ADDENDUM (5/21/09): Read about my TeleGeekazoid fun with a Verizon Network Extender here

Filed Under
Communications: Wireless - Communications Technology -

The law says you have to PAY to keep your phone number private.

Under current California law, if you don't pay AT&T a hefty monthly fee to keep your phone number private, they will publish your phone number and either make it available, or sell it to every telemarketer and con artists who is willing to pay for it. UCAN and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse are fighting the practice. On April 22, the groups co-authored a Letter of Support for SB437, which will prevent the practice.

Background:

In May 2007, AT&T started charging a $1.25 a month "protection" fee to keep your phone number unlisted -- an increase of 346% over the original monthly fee of 28 cents.

AT&T claims this covers the costs associated with not printing your number in the phone book, not making your number available to online searchers, and for not selling your phone number to telemarketers. AT&T has been able to get away with this because of slacker regulators at the California Public Utilities Commission who have a history of ignoring abuses by AT&T.

It sounds a little like an old-school protection racket doesn't it?  How much would you pay AT&T to not do other things?  What happens if they start charging you monthly fees for NOT burning down your house or NOT stealing your credit numbers? 

SB437 will forbid AT&T from charging you "protection" money to keep your private information private.  Article 1 of the California Constitution guarantees a right to privacy. Unfortunately, Governor Schwarzenegger failed to honor his oath of office to defend your constitutional right to privacy when he vetoed SB437 after it passed in the Assembly and Senate. 

UCAN supports SB437

In April, the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (a project of UCAN), and UCAN wrote the Senate Energy, Utilities & Communications Committee with a letter of support for Sb 437. Let's hope the Governor doesn't veto it again.  But don't hold your breath ... AT&T has been a very generous donor to Mr. Schwarzenegger.

Our suggestion? Why not send AT&T a bill for not using their phone service. 

AttachmentSize
SB437-Pavley-UnlistedNumber-NoChg-090422[1].pdf91.82 KB
Filed Under
Communications: Landline -
Money & Privacy Financial Privacy & ID Theft -

Dial 700-555-4141 for useless information

Ask me my name. Go ahead.

"What's your name?"

Self-aware biological organism with 23 chromosomes.

True, but it doesn't help much. Generic info. If you accused this entity of a crime. you'd involve a lot of individuals.

As a consumer you need to know something about what you're getting and who provides it. When this thing you've got is a physical object you can probably find out who made it by reading the label or the case or the instructions (not men, of course). But what if it's a concept - a service or something else incorporeal? An ethereal resource like your long distance carrier? How do you know what carrier you're actually using if the info is wrong?

As UCAN Blog readers know, there's a ripoff that's been around for some years called Slamming. This occurs when your long distance carrier is changed without your consent. Here are some links to more info on slamming:

http://www.ucan.org/telecommunications/landline/switching_local_toll_and_long_distance_carriers 

http://public.findlaw.com/consumer/long-distance-carrier.html

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/slamming.html

http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:xsz0bfxyAlsJ:www.consumerlaw.org/in...

You should, from time to time, both look at your phone bill which will state who your long distance carrier is, and dial 1-700-555-4141 which will result in a recording saying the name of the carrier. You can also check to see where your Long Distance Operator calls go; that is, if you dial 00 (vs 0 which is your local "ILEC" carrier's Operator number) you will get your Long Distance carrier's Operator who can do things like make person-to-person and collect calls - they will identify themselves, and this info can be useful, too.

So we've got this nice tool to use but what if it returns useless information? I have Powernet Global as my carrier for my business line and my personal line (much to the dismay of Fraud Squad staffer Sue). Because Powernet is a wholesale reseller of another company's voice services (they being Williams Communications), I don't get told that my carrier is Powernet Global.  Here's what I exchanged with Powernet about this - and it's a case study in an organization not being helpful:

Question      When I dial 700-555-4141 from my 858-555-1212 phone number it just sits there, quiet. When I dial "00" it doesn't say "Welcome to PowerNet Global" or even "Welcome to Williams LLC, your long distance company's master carrier" [it says "WCLLC" - real helpful]

When I dial 700-555-4141 from my 858-555-3434 phone it says "Your long distance service is now active. 5 1 0 2" How is that useful? And "00" says the same thing as for my other number.

The whole point of 700-555-4141 is to let consumers ensure they have not been slammed. Whether this is Williams' problem or yours TECHNICALLY, as far as I'm concerned it's your problem because you're my carrier, not Williams

Answer    Thank you for contacting PowerNet Global regarding the underlying carrier.

We apologize for any inconvenience.   [ I hate it when businesses say that. It's so insultingly generic. Does anyone really think that they are really apologetic?] When you dial 1-700-555-4141 from your phone, it should say “You have been activated with 5102”. This is the correct message for Williams Communications.

Thank you for choosing PowerNet Global. We appreciate your business.

Question  My point is that you should tell WCLLC to make the recording say something useful so that the consumer actually gets some information. How many people do you really think understand "5 1 0 2"?

Also, today when I dialed 700-555-4141 from 858-555-1212 I got "All circuits are busy now". When I did the same from 858-555-3434 I got the 5102 message. Why wouldn't both say the same thing?

Answer    Thank you for contacting PowerNet Global regarding your account.

The 1-700-555-4141 telephone number is governed by local telephone companies. It is something they either offer or they don’t. The long distance companies have no control over the number itself.

As for the recording, we are sorry that the message is confusing to you. However, that is the recording you should receive.

So, it doesn't seem like PowerNet or Williams are interested in having the average consumer know if their long distance carrier has been changed. They just want to do the minimum to satisfy some kind of government mandate. 

 If you're not sure who your carrier is, and if you can't tell from the 700- recording or from your bill, please post what you've got HERE and we'll see if we can track them down for you.

Dr. T

Filed Under
Communications: Communications Technology -

Who Needs A Private Eye (When You've Got A Cell Phone)?

Even geeks like me find it hard to keep up with technology. It’s expanding exponentially like nuclear fission. Once a new discovery comes out it spawns many more discoveries - like a bad movie and its sequels. And they tell their friends and they tell their friends and so on and so on and so on.  This posting just goes to show that you should never make assumptions.

UCAN Fraud Squad agent Sue got this post from an individual:

Please explain the nature of your dispute:
Cell phone was hacked and used as tracking device.

What have you done thus far to resolve the problem?:
I have ask them for help many different times from many small verizon dealer or even verizon company own stores.they answer was nothing wrong with your phone or you mentaly ill.the latest accident i am can not get into my mess acct or update phone or contact verizon customer service.i am have my cell phoe look at by many different dealer ,i am was told my phone has been illegaly turn on and use for as a listening and tracking ( GPS) device.

My first response to Sue was that this individual probably DID have a case of psychosis:

We both know that cell phones have GPS in them but what I’m not sure about is whether it can be used for anything other than tracking BY THE CELL PROVIDER. This would be done via the datastream over their network and would not be available to a hacker. If a nefarious 3rd party accessed the phone and installed software on it, the complainant would have to have Internet or email access in order to get the data out of the phone and to the bad person.

I’m afraid this person may be suffering from paranoia. This story sounds like similar stories I’ve heard from other people who have this disease to some degree or another. I know that ad agencies are working on ways to have a cell phone tell them where it is so they can send back to the phone the locations of nearby services. But this would probably involve software and 3G internet access. Also, I’m not sure how a phone gets “hacked” without having it physically given to the hacker first unless they have Internet access on the phone and they have  downloaded some malware.

From the Horse’s Mouth

I wrote to Verizon wireless to see what they knew about monitoring and tracking cell phones.  PR person Ken Muche replied:

I have never heard of third parties using their own software to track certain people's cell phones.  I am also not aware of any software that a person can buy and install on their own phone to do the same.

The FCC requires every carrier to use an e911 solution for first reponders to track the phones of people calling 9-1-1 in an emergency. This means 9-1-1 operators can get a person's GPS locaiton --- but only if that person dials 9-1-1 themselves.  Otherwise, no first responders have that info.  Also, the FCC gives wireless carriers two options for calculation lattitude/longitude coordinates.  Not ever carrier is the same, so I can't answer what chips are in what phones.

I wrote:

If phones can have (and do they do have) Navigation programs in them that act just like a Garmin or Tomtom, then these programs must be accessing info from the GPS receivers. If they are accessing info from the GPS receivers, then a rogue program could easily send that info out via email or via SMS. You are saying to me that Verizon has no awareness of people creating such programs, am I right?

I understand from your comments below that in order for an E911 operator to get the callers location, the caller must have dialed 911. So I'm guessing that even if the police call Verizon and say "we're looking for a lost girl. Here's her cellphone number. Can you track it?" You'd say "All we can do is to tell you what cell it last registered with and, if necessary, we could triangulate on it, assuming it's still operating. We cannot give you the locations of her phone AS PER GPS." Am I correct?

Ken replied:

I am saying I have no awareness that a rogue program is doing what you suggest below.

Also, as to your question re: law enforcement: I meant that law enforcment agencies and e911 operators cannot proactively and independently track cell phone locations.  That is, neither a random law enforcement agency nor a random e911 operator can push a button or run a program to find any cell phone they'd like.  They do not have that ability.

Wireless carriers can track e911-compatible phones --- but can only get their near-precise location if that phone is making a voice or data call.  If not, the wirelesss carrier can send a ping from their network switch to the phone and determine the nearest cell site that is serving that phone, triangulating if necessary.  Also, we highly value our customers' privacy so we only provide law enforcement agencies location information if served with a subpeona or a bench warrant.  Federal law allows for an exception to this but only in "exigent" circumstances.  An "exigent" situation is one that is life threatening or poses a threat of serious physical harm or damage to property.

Comments from a GPS Pro

In the meantime, I wrote to Doug Adomatis who blogs about using GPS’ for travel at http://www.travelbygps.com and has a specific article about cell phone tracking here http://www.travelbygps.com/articles/tracking.php   The tracking services he mentions in this article, like MapQuestFindMe, all require a GPS enabled phone with software installed on it. That said, it’s plausible that a person could have had such software installed and enabled on such a phone without their knowledge. I have no experience with iPhones, Androids, and BlackBerrys but I do know that you can see a list of most currently running applications on a Windows Mobile phone using the Task Manager.

But there seems to be a seedier underside to this tracking business. One example is BigDaddySpy, a Google ad for which happened to be displayed on Doug’s site. It says        Track your child's cell phone activity. Catch that cheating spouse

I asked Doug about this whole subject:

I'm not sure what all BigDaddySpy does.  I get calls from paranoids all the time, wanting to know if they are being tracked.  Here is what I know.

A cell phone can be "pinged" which is finding out what tower the phone is closest to.  It is called a tower report which is provided by the cellular service provider. The phone has to be on but not necessarily in use and the person requesting the information must know the cell phone number and must have authorization.  Clearly law enforcement would be able to obtain authorization.  Maybe private investigators.  Private individuals probably not.  But  a tower report will not pinpoint a person's - well more accurately: the cell phone's - location.  But if you are supposed to be at home and you're pinged in the next county then you're busted anyway.   I have read where some claim that a phone can be tracked when it has been turned off and that is just not true.

Regarding GPS, if a phone is sophisticated enough it can transmit location information.  If equipped and enabled and in the event of a 911 call, the GPS data (latitude and longitude) are transmitted along with the phone call.

As far as someone getting the GPS data from the phone, you have several layers of hardware, software, and service provider bureaucracy.  I've explained in my article that you must have the right equipment on the right network with the right service.  Sure it is easy to sign up and use GoogleLatitude if you have a compatible phone, but in doing so you sign an agreement.  If someone is really paranoid they would never do such a thing.

But I guess the bottom line is, if you are worried about being tracked, don't use a cell phone.

In my next posting on this subject I’ll look at a recent event where someone was tracked, theoretically without their knowledge, and lives were lost as a result. I’ll also look at just how much can be done remotely with a cell phone

Takeaways

Here is what I’m getting from this research (so far)

  • Not all cell phones have GPS units in them
  • A phone with or without GPS can be tracked using “triangulation” (radio direction finding) or, less accurately, by knowing to what cell a phone is presently registered. This info is not available to the public in the US because it’s determined by a cell carrier’s network, not by a user’s phone, and is not given out, TO MY KNOWLEDGE. Engadget.com says that companies like this can use cell tower info as well as GPS info to track phones in the UK or certain networks: http://www.world-tracker.com
  • Many cellular providers offer services to let you track kids and employees (e.g. Verizon’s CHAPERONE service). More to follow.
  • Just because you know it all doesn't mean you do  ;^)

Please see my other postings regarding personal and small business cellular, phone systems, email, fax, and other communications topics here: http://www.ucan.org/internet_media/broadband_isps/ask_dr_telecom_the_com...

Filed Under
Communications: Wireless - Communications Technology -


Like what you see? Go ahead and show your support! UCAN is a truly independent non-profit watchdog organization, dependent on grassroots donations like yours!

Utility Consumers' Action Network

(619) 696-6966 or file a complaint about a company online.

Terms & Conditions

UCAN.org is made available by the Utility Consumers' Action Network to assist you in becoming what you always knew you could be, a consumer ROCK STAR! We take no corporate money, and are beholden only to you, the consumer. As such, the site is here for educational, advocacy, and empowerment purposes, as well to to give you general information and a general understanding of the law. Just remember this site is NOT here to provide specific legal advice. By using this web site you of course understand that there is no attorney client relationship between you and the Web Site publisher, UCAN. The Web Site should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.

That said, get to digging on the site, inform yourself, speak your mind, and earn Watchdog Bones! This is YOUR site, and we mean it. So comment on any of the content, discuss the latest issues in the forums, file a complaint on a company with the fraud squad, and generally cut loose.

See our Privacy Policy and Copyright Policy, Some Rights Reserved