TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Re: Good Writeup of Cellular Tracking in NYC Criminal Case

Re: Good Writeup of Cellular Tracking in NYC Criminal Case

hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
16 Mar 2006 08:06:57 -0800

Danny Burstein wrote:

> We techies know this, but most people don't ... Cell phones, whenever
> on (and there's some question about whether a few of them do so even
> when off) periodically "check in" with the cellular carrier. This
> happens both on a time basis (perhaps every ten minutes) or when
> moving from one tower area to another.

Big brother is watching us.

In addition to tracking by cell phone towers, we may be tracked by use
of fare instruments such as electronic transit fare cards (ie NYC
"MetroCard", or highway toll cards (ie EZPASS). They can track usage
of credit cards and ATM cards.

The cost of closed circuit TV recording systems has dropped
tremendously and they are in a great many places recording our every
move. Many cameras are outdoors, operated by building owners or the
government.

Recently, a Florida man was convicted and sentenced to death for
killing a girl. A camera captured his original assault on the girl.

So on the good side this electronic surveillance is helping to catch
criminals after a crime as we are seeing on the news these days. It
appears that vicious man in Florida certainly deserved his death
sentence for what he did to the poor girl.

However: Does this surveillance deter crime? Are we safer because of
the surveillance?

Are there any drawbacks to all this surveillance? What happens if
someone steals my cellphone and while holding it, he/she goes out and
commits a crime. (I don't use my phone very much so I wouldn't know
it's missing for some time). Will I get blamed for it? Some of the
video images of stores are quite grainy. Is it possible to have
mistaken identity? Recently a photo of a wanted holdup man was shown
on TV; he looked very much like a friend of mine. My friend got
numerous phone calls about it.

Post Followup Article Use your browser's quoting feature to quote article into reply
Go to Next message: Michael Muderick: "Cellphone Technical Question"
Go to Previous message: Paul: "Re: 208/240V, was: 25Hz Power"
May be in reply to: Danny Burstein: "Good Writeup of Cellular Tracking in NYC Criminal Case"
TELECOM Digest: Home Page