Tracking Device

I have a friend and fellow blogger who has a cell phone but keeps it turned off when he isn’t using it. He calls it his “tracking device.” He means his location can be tracked if his phone is turned on. He feels that is an invasion of privacy, and of course it is to some extent. There is a trade-off between privacy and services. That’s reality.

Turning off your phone might protect you from Google but the government can still track you. Specifically, the NSA (National Security Agency) can track you when your phone is off. Of course, they would need a reason. They don’t track everyone with a cell phone, but they’ve tracked thousands of terrorists in Iraq. So how do they do this?

Sooner or later, you will turn on your phone to make a call. At that point, the NSA sends a piece of software to your phone called a Trojan. That software is designed so that it continues to run when the phone is “off.” It periodically transmits your location, which it can compute in a number of ways. So you think your phone is completely off, but a little part of it is still running and sending location data. Very clever.

If you really don’t want to be tracked, remove your phone’s battery when you’re not using it. Or just get rid of your cell phone and pretend it’s 1973.