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NSA PhoneAfter the news that China has decided to force manufacturers to standardise phone charging ports to the mini-USB format, it turns out that there’s an even easier way to get the industry-wide feature you want implemented: just be the FBI.  What cellphone manufacturers are reluctant to include in-among all the blurb about Bluetooth and high-speed data connectivity is that apparently every recent phone sold in the US has a built-in tracking device that, once activated remotely, can be set to keep the microphone powered on even when the phone itself is switched off.

The FBI used the technology in collecting evidence for the recent Genovese crime family trial, and it should be made clear that they can only do so with the relevant court order.  Saying that, just how difficult is it to get a court order in our age of super-terror?  The only way to circumnavigate the tracker is removing the battery, which then makes the phone rather useless.  In fact, you’d be better off carrying a small child’s shoe, which could at least be used for storing your keys. 

I’d be very interested to find out whereabouts in the phone circuitry the tracking device is located, from a purely geeky point of view.  Anybody fancy hacking open their KRZR and going looking?

The Blotter [via Neatorama]

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77 Responses to “FBI is inside every recent cellphone”

  1. JoeBlow December 30, 2006

    can we get a source on this?

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  2. Lol Noob December 30, 2006

    Lol, those bastards, if I found out where it is, I’d publish a howto on removing it.

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  3. JM December 30, 2006

    Source?

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  4. Josh December 30, 2006

    I’ll just hit the mute button. My phone is only for the listening side of conversations with my girlfriend anyway. :)

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  5. Doc December 30, 2006

    Just wire a hardswitch in between the battery and phone contacts.
    Open up your phone, buy a smaaallll switch and cut a little hole in
    the side of your phone to install it. wire the switch between the
    battery contacts and the power-in on the phone circuit board.

    Done. Tap-proof.
    cordially,
    Doc

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  6. BP December 30, 2006

    JM and Joe:
    The sources are posted right before the signature “-Chris Davies”. See? There’s a link for the Blotter and for Neatorama. Pay attention.

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  7. Rich December 30, 2006

    For a discussion with little hype on this issue check out this reputable site:
    http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000202.html

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  8. Jason December 30, 2006

    Looks like we’re building our own dystopia, here.

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  9. Jay Cloe December 30, 2006

    [quote comment="13849"]For a discussion with little hype on this issue check out this reputable site:
    http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000202.html/quote

    What made it more reputable than this site?

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  10. stephen December 30, 2006

    Boy, won’t this be fun once its hacked…

    idiots…

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  11. John December 30, 2006

    This is gone too far taping phones putting up traffic cameras and al types of cameras.

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  12. MARK SMITH December 30, 2006

    [quote comment="13840"]can we get a source on this?[/quote]
    THIS IS VERY INTERESTING AND DISTURBING. THIS DOES NOT SURPISE ME. THIS SOUNDS LIKE 1984. THE GOVERNMENT HAS A LOT OF POWER THAT NEEDS TO REGULATED.

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  13. edgar December 30, 2006

    Ok, so it’s probably not much more than an urban legend yet, but this unauthorized listening could be defeated by putting the phone in a sound-proof carrying case with an electrically conductive lining. This kills both the detection of audio and the ability to broadcast the detected audio to the cell network. It should be easy to build and test such a box. Expect to see such cases offered for sale.

    Or just leave the phone in the car while you talk in the house.

    But make sure all your friends do, too.

    Or don’t become the target or friend of a target of an FBI probe.

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  14. Russell Johnston December 30, 2006

    Two words – metal box

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  15. Carlossus December 30, 2006

    Just a switch to disconnect the Mic is far easier if you’re worried.

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  16. jc December 30, 2006

    [quote comment="13847"]Just wire a hardswitch in between the battery and phone contacts.
    Open up your phone, buy a smaaallll switch and cut a little hole in
    the side of your phone to install it. wire the switch between the
    battery contacts and the power-in on the phone circuit board.

    Done. Tap-proof.
    cordially,
    Doc[/quote]

    Good idea, but only for those who only MAKE calls.

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  17. Andy December 30, 2006

    It doesn’t matter. American model phones are terrible anyway. Buy korean or chinese with GSM tri-bands.

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  18. Me December 30, 2006

    Do you have any evidence that such device actually exists? What reason do you have to believe this?

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  19. Dan Matthews December 30, 2006

    Seems like carrying a cell phone while doing something illegal is a bad idea.

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  20. grendel December 30, 2006

    dunno. would like to see a more reputable source on this. possibly some documentation.

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  21. anon December 30, 2006

    “Two words – metal box”

    So much for receiving calls…

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  22. Borat December 30, 2006

    Sexy Time

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  23. Alberto García December 30, 2006

    What about hacking the protocol, if somebody get such control, he will be able to do terrible things…

    And what about the EU?

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  24. Nick December 30, 2006

    Reminds me of Enemy of the State…

    Crazy that the movie was made in 1998.. It’s so relevant today.

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  25. annon December 30, 2006

    “The FBI used the technology in collecting evidence for the recent Genovese crime family trial, and it should be made clear that they can only do so with the relevant court order.”

    No they didn’t, they just used the regular tapping of a couple phones.

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  26. Jeffrey Henderson December 30, 2006

    I’m officially starting a company that makes cell phones that run linux and dont’ let anyone tap the phone.

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  27. mike December 30, 2006

    I too would like some source info on this article, as in who is claiming that all of the new cell phones have this spy technology already built in???

    Also the best comment I read was about making a cell phone that can disable the mic (the disabling the battery idea is idiotic unless you never receive calls).

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  28. Sebastian B. December 30, 2006

    [quote comment="13847"]Just wire a hardswitch in between the battery and phone contacts. Open up your phone, buy a smaaallll switch and cut a little hole in
    the side of your phone to install it. wire the switch between the
    battery contacts and the power-in on the phone circuit board.[/quote]

    If you are just afraid of s.o. listening to your conversations you might better just interrupt the microphone line with a switch. This way you can still receive phone calls. But beware: as there is a constant exchange of information between the phone an the base station you could still be tracked in this case …

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  29. wongo December 30, 2006

    old news.

    http://news.com.com/FBI taps cell phone mic as eavesdropping tool/2100-1029_3-6140191.html

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  30. Shawn McCarthy December 30, 2006

    [quote comment="13863"]Seems like carrying a cell phone while doing something illegal is a bad idea.[/quote]

    Far be it from me, but isn’t doing most illegal things usually a pretty bad idea all on its own?

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  31. Ewdison Then December 30, 2006

    If you done nothing wrong, i dont think there is anything you need to worry about. However, mis-use of it will be another issue of concern

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  32. Pat Riot December 30, 2006

    Actually, a lot of these phones have a backup battery inside as well, so the FBI can keep hearing you even when you remove the battery.

    Look it up at infowars.com

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  33. Ben December 30, 2006

    If you are worried about misuse, hope to God no Democrat gets into the Presidency any time soon. Especially if they have ANY connection to the Clintons.

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  34. Dan Matthews December 30, 2006

    I think you may be on to something there Shawn :P

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  35. Doug Brenner December 30, 2006

    I’m sure the functionality would be part of the firmware.

    To anyone who says they never do anything illegal, it is impossible for anyone to say that since no living human knows all the laws he is subject to. The fact is, EVERYONE does something illegal now & then. Mainly you’ve only gotten away with it as a matter of severity and whether the hardware is yet in place to catch you in the act. But the latter is changing. With sufficient surveillance, everyone will be arrestable. Soon, even your car’s computer will tattle on you.

    Ever discard your old telephone book in the trash instead of recycling it? Ever send a box of brandy chocolates to a relative in the states of Florida, Maryland or Michigan? If so, that’s actually a felony. Ever cut the tag off your mattress? Fail to submit state sales tax on an internet purchase? Oh, you are a real sinner. Ever drive without your seatbelt fastened? Exceeded 55 miles per hour? Failed to come to a complete stop at an intersection? Forgot to signal your lane change? If so, you are a scofflaw and deserve to be jailed for the good of society!

    You are SO, SO BUSTED!!!!

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  36. Stew December 30, 2006

    Can someone tell me how a mic is supposed to work without a power source? The phone is turned off, yet someone can still listen in? Did IQ points suddenly drop while I was away? (Thanks Ripley! :)

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  37. Richard December 30, 2006

    You can find a similar article on CNET

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  38. prozacula December 30, 2006

    I would have to say Ben is a moron. The Rethuglicans, who were already kicked kicked out of office for their wrongdoings, have demonstrated a very healthy proclivity for misusing and abusing power, thank you very much.

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  39. Robert Accettura December 30, 2006

    I wonder if it would be possible to activate this without being the FBI? Could be an interesting hack if someone figured out how to call a cell phone and activate the feature. Do that to enough phones, and you could cripple the wireless grid with cell phone usage. Would cause trouble for emergency service.

    What a mess. And sadly the FBI couldn’t be held liable for such damages, since it’s pretty close to impossible to hold a Federal agency liable for doing (or not doing) anything… just ask Hurricane vics, 9/11 families, etc. etc.

    This could be such a gigantic mess if it were hacked. And it’s not something that could easily be fixed either. At a minimum a firmware upgrade would be needed, so all but a handful of phones need to physically be taken to the store, since FOTA is only supported on a few phones.

    Can you imagine congress passing an emergency law requiring cell phone users to get a firmware update within 30 days?

    Scary if it’s really true.

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  40. John Rambone December 30, 2006

    [quote comment="13901"]If you done nothing wrong, i dont think there is anything you need to worry about. However, mis-use of it will be another issue of concern[/quote]

    And how do we know you have done nothing wrong if we don’t investigate you? Of course if you have done nothing wrong there is little need to worry and when we do investigate you we will be discrete and neither tell you of the investigation nor leave any trace that in fact you were investigated unless of course we do uncover something but even then it will be our option.

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  41. Ron December 30, 2006

    Why don’t you just stick a wad of juicey fruit in the mic. hole?

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  42. cybergeek December 30, 2006

    Hey guys,

    This is so easy for us, the techies. Just put on a costumed flip-close switch in series with the mic. That’s all…. Because if the phone is not flip open, the circuit of mic and main amplifier will be open, hence no voice signal can go through to reach the amplifier. And that once the cell is flipped open, the mic completes with the circuit. Simple as pi. :-)

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  43. Mr E. December 31, 2006

    The real issue here is if such a thing did exist, it would be used by parties other than the FBI far more frequently. Imagine how much personal info the identity thieves could get from you by using this? And to say “Oh its not crackable because we never told anyone how to do it” is BS.

    Someone will figure out how to take advantage of it. If its real (I doubt it) then its only a matter of time.

    The Mini-USB charging is a good thing IMO. How f’ed up is it to change your charging adapter every generation or so just to make consumers pony up another $39.95 for their 2ndary chargers, car chargers, etc.

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  44. wxave December 31, 2006

    I waer my phone on my hip, in a leather case, i know for a fact that you cant hear anything if you are listening while the phone is in the hip case. I know this, becuase until i learned to lock my keypad, it would often call people and they woudl get to hear ambient noise for a while.

    I am skeptical of such a ability being added to recent phones. I suspect that this is actually a rehashing of a bluetooth exploit that was actually closed by the phone comminuty in recent years. The said exploit only worked via bluetooth and was limited by the physical range limitation of bluetooth.

    However I wonder if there is anything to actually add to a phone to make this technically feasible. The phone carrier is already connected to your phone in a passive way. It is possible to conceive that they could send a signal that opened a call. hmmm.

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  45. Axel December 31, 2006

    Another way around is to wrap the phone in foil, sound will get through, but nort EM radiation. This takes care of hidden batteries, remote commands and proximal cell identification.

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  46. bcon December 31, 2006

    [quote comment="13847"]Just wire a hardswitch in between the battery and phone contacts.
    Open up your phone, buy a smaaallll switch and cut a little hole in
    the side of your phone to install it. wire the switch between the
    battery contacts and the power-in on the phone circuit board.

    Done. Tap-proof.
    cordially,
    Doc[/quote]

    Why not just wire that switch to disconnect the mic instead? That way at least you can still txt ;-)

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  47. Court Kizer December 31, 2006

    I don’t actually believe this. The FBI, probably did what they have done since the 1920’s, which is modify the phone so when it’s “on the hook” or in this case not on a call it’s transmitting to somewhere close by. Meaning they probably got the phone modified, and had a longer range transmitter installed. There are plenty of sites on the internet that will show you how to do this for yourself.

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  48. Court Kizer December 31, 2006

    Not to mention it’s mostly the phone calls they listen to, which they just get a warrant (or not) to listen in, and it’s easy as cake to listen into the call, but for ops where they want to listen when the phone is off the hook it draws battery power. My guess is somehow they switched out this guys battery with one that had the transmitter installed, or somehow modified his phone.

    If this was built into every phone, I think we’d probably know about it (there are always leaks). There are many models of phones (even 5 years ago) that could do this simply by going into diagnostic mode, and changing options where it would be transmitting to the cell tower when you ended your call.

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  49. Dave December 31, 2006

    I used telegrams until western union stopped that service a couple months ago. now i have to send someone money to include a message, what a crock.

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  50. aviationwiz December 31, 2006

    To quote a friend of mine: “should come with a sticker “FBI Inside”"

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  51. A Concerned American... December 31, 2006

    What the hell is wrong with you people, if you are not selling weapons to terrorists or are a terrorists and you are not doing anything agenst our country what the F@CK do you have to worry about… Do you really think that your conversation is going to be that interesting to the FBI… do you really think that you are that important to them… GET A LIFE… If the FBI wants to listen to my cell phone conversations between me and my girl friends it is going to sound like a sex hot line… And if you are one of those Terrorists Bastards I hope the FBI listens to your cell phone conversations and Kick’s down your door and SHOOTS you in the head… Welcome to America…!!!

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  52. Clem December 31, 2006

    GET A LIFE… If the FBI wants to listen to my cell phone conversations between me and my girl friends it is going to sound like a sex hot line…

    A Concerned American… @ Dec 31st, 2006 7:20 am

    Yeah, right. From the tone of the rest of your comment, you sound like a classic bull-fruit.

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  53. Mantra December 31, 2006

    [quote comment="13851"][quote comment="13849"]For a discussion with little hype on this issue check out this reputable site:
    http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000202.html/quote

    What made it more reputable than this site?[/quote]

    Lauren Weinstein runs the “Computer Risks Digest” which is the web version of the usenet newsgroup “comp.risks”. Comp.risks has been around on the Internet since the 1988 (pre-Web, pre-Gopher, etc.) and Lauren has been a regular on the ‘Net even earlier. Comp.risks has a long history of being the first place to hear about all manner of human-engineered computer and machine threats to life, limb and liberty. In many ways Comp.risks is an education in the dark side of the profession of human-designed interfaces of machines as compared to user interface design a la Apple, Don Norman, et al.

    This is not to say that this blog is not reputable, but only that Lauren and comp.risks has a demonstrably longer legacy of reputable information about this kind of subject.

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  54. BohemianGrover December 31, 2006

    Its funny, the same people who have no problem with the government listening to their every word are the same people who were not taught real history in government controlled schools. The greatest threat to any people throughout history has and always will be their own government. Our freedoms continue to dwindle away until even the fools wake up one day and realize that they are literally a slave with no redress. Obey or the gulag. Think as we tell you to think or else. It is coming…

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  55. Marianne December 31, 2006

    Well, I left one country with these tactics – now I find myself in yet another country with the same ideas “CONTROL” – No Freedom here anylonger …and another concern – I was just told that we are all being mind-controlled via Television so we are not able to react as our sixty children (now our parents) did— they got things started … BUT we just sit arround blogging each other and still living away precious times of reaction.
    When do WE as People wake-up, get off of our comfort zones and take to the streets !!! Are we all Lazy, “the lazy generation” such comforting words to ” THE CONTROLLERS “. Come-on, get it on – we have the power in numbers, let’s make a STAND! H>E>L>L>O !!!!!!!!!!

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  56. liz January 1, 2007

    Should everyone DROP cell phones until corporate America stops selling out Americans? I’m ready to go turn my in for a credit. WTF in America ya’ll> Who do these people doing this stuff think they are anyway>? STOP THE WAR

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  57. Ed January 1, 2007

    [quote comment="13904"]If you are worried about misuse, hope to God no Democrat gets into the Presidency any time soon. Especially if they have ANY connection to the Clintons.[/quote]

    Gee, do ya think that the spying on Americans happening during a REPUBLICAN Criminal administration could be relevant, or is it somehow the fault of democrats?

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  58. send the fbi to iraq January 1, 2007

    They want to do some listening in, send them to Iraq, find out where the insurgents are..
    let their ass risk getting blown up instead of 18-20yr olds…
    Don’t worry, be happy.. there are companies making wireless internet based phone technologies in handsets which are proprietary.. then a company can make a PROFIT by including ultra encryption standards. If you really need secure voice communications, cell phones are not really the best idea. Just think; you pay taxes to government which more and more wants and needs to spy on YOU the public… your government just doesn’t trust you anymore… for shame.
    The world more and more wants to kill western civilization, and yet we must be the problem– solution: create an Orwellian society of no secrets and soviet union style spying to look more like the rest of the world. Is it the chicken or the egg?

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  59. Danny January 1, 2007

    LOL just don’t do anything illegal…and they’ll never hack in..and if they do…then don’t worry about it cus your not gonna do anything illegal…i don’t know why people worry about stuff like this. it’s not that big a deal to me…there’s nothing that i say ANYWHERE that the fbi would be interested in..or even consider worth their time.

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  60. gebser January 1, 2007

    [quote comment="14153"]LOL just don’t do anything illegal…and they’ll never hack in..and if they do…then don’t worry about it cus your not gonna do anything illegal…i don’t know why people worry about stuff like this. it’s not that big a deal to me…there’s nothing that i say ANYWHERE that the fbi would be interested in..or even consider worth their time.[/quote]

    John Lennon never did anything illegal, but the FBI was all over him. Same for just about every anti-(Vietnam-)war movment of the ’60s and ’70s.

    Tom Delay (the Republican congressman who used his office to sell influence) used HSA to locate Democrats who didn’t want to show up for a quorum (which isn’t an illegal activity).

    So if you believe that being innocent will preclude your being surveilled, you’re just very naive and/or not very well informed.

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  61. TerraHertz January 2, 2007

    Very simple test to see if this is being done to your phone. Buy one of those little LED gadgets that lights up when its near a phone that is transmitting. Even if the phone is ‘pretending’ to be off, to transmit the voice signal it still needs to transmit RF. Normally phones transmit short RF bursts regularly even when not on a call, so they can maintain their link to the nearest cell base. But while the phone is sending voice, it transmits much more often. You can hear this if the phone is near a poorly shielded stereo or other audio device – the ‘brrrt brrt brip brrt…’ sounds are the RF packets the phone is sending, being picked up by the stereo amp circuits.
    If your phone starts doing this while its supposed to be switched off, you have a problem. Exactly the same problem we all have (an insane, out of control US administration) but focussed right on you.

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  62. leek January 2, 2007

    Old News, as some were saying. Here’s a discussion, with informative technical details:

    http://yro.slashdot.org/articl.....04/0456220

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  63. info January 2, 2007

    freedoms are not free.
    we have to fight for them
    unfortunately i don’t see this happening in america.
    yeah, as you can see this does not even bother some
    and that is even more scary….
    us is full of people who have already died.

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  64. sean costello January 2, 2007

    actually, they’ve had this technology for about 3 years. plus there’s no way to take this feature off the phone as it’s software built-in to the processor, so sure, take the processor out of your phone. see how well that would work. not only that, but the camera can be accessed as well in the new 3g phones. EVEN WHEN THE PHONE IS OFF ! so how’s that for spying?? so if law enforcement has had this for 3 years we know the military has had it for 5.

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  65. rsmllc January 3, 2007

    If you are unsure about your phone and are not technically able enough to remove it, just remove the battery whenever you turn off the phone. A pain, yes, but without power the spy mic can’t work. As for the “if you don’t do anything illegal, it’s no big deal” people, hey, if you really believe that, why don’t you let Big Brother install mics and cameras into every bedroom and bathroom? If you haven’t done anything wrong, it’s no big deal, right?

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  66. Adam Scarf January 6, 2007

    Read the book 1984 by George Orwell. This book talks about a fascist society and Big Brother under the guise of Democracy.

    Oh my God; this is actually happening!

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  67. More wary of the Gov. by the Day. January 10, 2007

    Just another reason why i do not, nor do i plan on owning a cell phone, nor do i own any credit cards or put ANY of my personal information over the web. They may know who i am, but i sure as hell ain`t gonna make it any easier for them!

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  68. Bob January 16, 2007

    [quote comment="13904"]If you are worried about misuse, hope to God no Democrat gets into the Presidency any time soon. Especially if they have ANY connection to the Clintons.[/quote]

    [quote comment="13904"]If you are worried about misuse, hope to God no Democrat gets into the Presidency any time soon. Especially if they have ANY connection to the Clintons.[/quote]

    Republicans lost the war, Republicans voted in a trader and a terrorist. I’m voting Democrat.

    Basically, the republican party voted in a man who shit on us [Americans]. Then sells us the magical spray to keep the flies off.

    Clinton was great! One of the great presidents of our time. He even acted like any man in this nation would have…. cheated on his nagging, bitch-wife who by the way is a very patient but demanding woman. If she runs for presidency, I’ll vote for her because I think women should be given the opportunity. Just look at all the damage men have done since time started!

    Look on the bright side, every 28 days they’ll have a man hanging day. We can start with Bush on the first day. :D

    Who’s with me?

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  69. Marshall K January 25, 2007

    Have you ever received or made a phone call near a speaker and heard the interference through the speaker until u pick up? Well, can’t we use this concept in a hand held device which alerts us whenever a _signal_ leaves/arrives to our cellphone, regardless of it being SMS or phone call?

    HAVING THIS DEVICE lets u know for sure if you’re being spied on, and if you find that you’re being eavesdropped on, make sure to tell the Fag Body Inspectors to go wipe their ass or something since they got nothing better to do. It’s a matter of privacy, not whether you’ve done something wrong or not.

    You could even make your own device by purchasing a microwave detector and integrating it in your own circuitry.

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  70. tboz January 25, 2007

    the key to seeing that this is complete lunacy is that what recent work with the genovese crime family has been going on…John Gotti has been dead over ten years…there is no more genovese crime family…..if they had said some internal al quaida operatives i might have bit on this one…nice try

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  71. Resident Genius March 18, 2007

    It’s too noticeable. Standby time on cell phones is now, what, over a week? Talk time is what, a couple hours? If your cell batteries are always dead, you know something is up. Sure, they could get around it by only switching it on when you’re doing something interesting (read: Incriminating) but otherwise, they can only get a few minutes a day without a paranoid you noticing. And, if you’re sufficiently paranoid and intelligent, you could force them to tip their hand. Start talking about the dead bodies you keep in your basement, and when they raid your place, you know they’ve been spying on you.

    Or, instead of the switch between the battery and the phone, install a milliamp (microamp?) meter, which senses how much power the phone is drawing. If it trips for more than a couple seconds at a time, you know that your phone is drawing power, and it only draws significant power when it is transmitting.

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  72. Jeremy Norrie July 19, 2007

    9/11 was an inside job, now america is turning into a police state. STOP THE CRIMINALS FROM TAKING OVER!

    1984

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  73. Clear Thinker July 31, 2007

    If your cell privacy is so important, why not just install one of those antennas that light up when the phone is transmitting or receiving? If it’s been activated without your knowledge you will visibly see it and all without “cutting” your phone to pieces because you are paranoid. Besides, some of those flashing lights look cool. They are also available as pens and keychains.

    Sometimes the simplest answer is the easiest.

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  74. Recidivist August 1, 2007

    [quote comment="16484"][quote comment="13904"]If you are worried about misuse, hope to God no Democrat gets into the Presidency any time soon. Especially if they have ANY connection to the Clintons.[/quote]

    [quote comment="13904"]If you are worried about misuse, hope to God no Democrat gets into the Presidency any time soon. Especially if they have ANY connection to the Clintons.[/quote]

    Republicans lost the war, Republicans voted in a trader and a terrorist.

    I’m voting Democrat.

    Basically, the republican party voted in a man who shit on us [Americans]. Then sells us the magical spray to keep the flies off.

    Clinton was great! One of the great presidents of our time. He even acted like any man in this nation would have…. cheated on his nagging, bitch-wife who by the way is a very patient but demanding woman. If she runs for presidency, I’ll vote for her because I think women should be given the opportunity. Just look at all the damage men have done since time started!

    Look on the bright side, every 28 days they’ll have a man hanging day. We can start with Bush on the first day. :D

    Who’s with me?[/quote]

    All Presidents are corrupt and whorish puppets. It was Clinton himself, who failed to veto House Resolution 666 (yes, that’s the number). That gave the right to executive powers to use ANY evidence garnered by tap without a warrant.

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  75. chris frankinfort August 6, 2007

    Working in a cell network, they still come in and tap calls, meaning Nokia, Motorola ect. has to give them the equipment to encode the binary encription. Each phone is uniquie.
    The walsh code is a code paired with your esn (bunch of hex numbers on the back of you cellphone). the walsh code changes like 3 times a second and is a random script that changes and starts all over again in I thing around 40 days. The only thing that will encode this is the cell on the other side of the call. This is to prevent hackers from listening to your phone conversations. Law inforcment is two busy 2 worry about your personal calls, its difficult to tap cells as they have trouble sync. 2 cells together although they do it. The microphone thing in therory cant be done unless you still had a call up. If the cell is keyed down GPS could still be trasmitting, but it cannot carry voice. If the FBI is listening to your calls its to late, they have somthing on you and are trying to get more. As of now I dont care what they do to save lives post 9/11.

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  76. ????? March 28, 2008

    Cell phones have (3) three major vulnerabilities:
    Monitoring of your phone conversations
    Phone can be used as a microphone to eavesdrop (even when your phone off)
    A cell phone number may be used by other

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  77. ????? March 28, 2008


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