FBI Using Cell Phones As Bugs

[Rayvyn]

Yep I'm sure to most users on FF this is nothing shocking. However this is the first time I've actually read somewhere where the FBI says they use it.

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-6140191.html

Yep that's your cell phone being used to spy on you. I think it's a great tool for use against lowlifes like dope dealers and assorted crooks. However with any technology, it's going to be abused.

Rayvyn

[Alien-BC]

FBI, MI 3/4/5/6 /7, Mossad, the French DGSE the German Abwehr to mention just a few agencies. Have had the ability to keep tracks on us via our precious cell phones for over a decade. It’s amazing that most of the public still don’t know this.

Your post Rayvyn serves as a good reminder;)

[Divinorumus]

It’s amazing that most of the public still don’t know this.

Same thing with RFID chips and various identification cards we've been carrying around in our pockets and wallets and purses for years. A dozen years ago where I once worked they suddenly issued all new ID cards for all employees ... and oddly enough around the same time they were remodeling various entries and doors with designer looking doors - ha, yeah, sprucing up the place - right, wink wink!) ... And I examined my new ID card and I found it contained an ID chip within it .. and, as with all such thangs, I NUKED it in the microwave oven until I thought I heard a muffled sounding pop/snap sound (it helps to place it upon one of those microwave browning plates too - ha)! And, when I began mentioning this around work to a few people it didn't take long before my boss's boss's boss called me into his office and told me I was never to speak of this again, as it had something to do with national security issues/concerns and I could get into trouble with if I continued to interfere .. which I suppose made sense since it was an airlines ... and of course I didn't shut up about it - I just never mentioned it to anyone where other unwelcomed ears were listening - ha. Apparently they didn't want everyone knowing that their every movement throughout all facilities were monitored and recorded as they passed through various points.

[Rayvyn]

FBI, MI 3/4/5/6 /7, Mossad, the French DGSE the German Abwehr to mention just a few agencies. Have had the ability to keep tracks on us via our precious cell phones for over a decade. It’s amazing that most of the public still don’t know this.

Your post Rayvyn serves as a good reminder;)

I know. The tracking is pretty easy since
most cells have to know where they are in relation to other cells. Police have used this to find a woman locked in a trunk of a car that had been jacked. The cops just followed what cells were picking up the signal and they found the car with the helo or ground unit. It's funny because the bread and butter of many a dope dealer is the cell phone. It's like they're begging to be caught.

Rayvyn

[Rayvyn]

Same thing with RFID chips and various identification cards we've been carrying around in our pockets and wallets and purses for years. A dozen years ago where I once worked they suddenly issued all new ID cards for all employees ... and oddly enough around the same time they were remodeling various entries and doors with designer looking doors - ha, yeah, sprucing up the place - right, wink wink!) ... A

When I worked at the post office, they gave everyone ID cards with a little plastic wafer backing. You just had to wave it in front of the gate for entry. But what they didn't tell people is that they could tell where you were in the building with that card. However they issued new ones and told everyone to turn in the old ones. I forgot mine and after a while they said forget it. I took it apart and found all sorts of chips and the coil antenna. The new ones were smaller but still had the same tracking ability. Pretty soon your credit cards will have this same stuff in them. They will know where you are.

Rayvyn

[Barbie]

If they ever bother to track MY movements, they will be sorely disappointed - the drugstore, the market, the vet, the gas station every 3-5 weeks ... and of course the UFO groups, 14 times a year. I don't think I'm very interesting...

But if they want to track where I go on-line, well, now THAT's a different story. All the ufo sites, all the paranormal sites, the Black Vault, and hundreds of places I can't remember.

[cherry]

If they ever bother to track MY movements, they will be sorely disappointed - the drugstore, the market, the vet, the gas station every 3-5 weeks ... and of course the UFO groups, 14 times a year. I don't think I'm very interesting...

But if they want to track where I go on-line, well, now THAT's a different story. All the ufo sites, all the paranormal sites, the Black Vault, and hundreds of places I can't remember.

Barbie, you sound like someone I'd like to invite to coffee, especially since our stories are very similar . . . .

[Panache]

Even some libraries have scanning capabilities when you walk through the door that not only are scanning whether or not the books you carry through are checked out, they also scan any and all magentic tapes on your credit cards, parking permit cards etc., for your ID.

Are these magnetic strips interreadable through seemingly irrelevant venue's technologies? I once was out of town for a conference and left home without the presumptuously sufficient ID to get a hotel room. The one thing I did have was my parking card for my office's building parking garage. The relatively savvy desk clerk ran that through and came up with a very large amount of information grossly irrelevant to either parking in the garage or sleeping in a hotel, and that was 15 years ago.

[whskyfan]

Even some libraries have scanning capabilities when you walk through the door that not only are scanning whether or not the books you carry through are checked out, they also scan any and all magentic tapes on your credit cards, parking permit cards etc., for your ID.

Are these magnetic strips interreadable through seemingly irrelevant venue's technologies? I once was out of town for a conference and left home without the presumptuously sufficient ID to get a hotel room. The one thing I did have was my parking card for my office's building parking garage. The relatively savvy desk clerk ran that through and came up with a very large amount of information grossly irrelevant to either parking in the garage or sleeping in a hotel, and that was 15 years ago.

I wonder if there is a way to shield these item from the detectors? If so, I'd be interested.

[Panache]

The only thing I've come up with for that, WhskyFan, is to not carry one in. By the nature of its venue and the gravity of the circumstances, an example of this technology can be found at the UCLA BioMed Library, for those in the LA area. Just walking through will identify you, if you have such doohickies on your person.

As for cell phones? Take the advice of one of the show's guests ... remove the batteries from your cell phone, use a beeper, have folks call you on that first, then choose when and where to call them back at your convenience.