by Alec Muffett
Unstated observation: so if you don’t want to be found, switch your phone off…
BBC NEWS | Technology | Google search finds missing child
[…] Since 2005, US law says that mobile phone providers must be able to locate 67% of callers within 100 metres and 95% of callers within 300 meters.This requirement has led to GPS capability in most new mobile phones in the US.
Because mobile phones typically have soft power-off switches and remotely upgradeable software, if you think someone will use these types of techniques to find you, you have to remove the battery, in case they have rewritten your firmware with one that doesn’t respect the power off switch.
I think such things are unlikely given the proliferation of types of phone, but I guess it depends how keen they are to find you (or listen to what you are saying). This happens when your devices trust the supplier more than they trust the owner.
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