...when you're not using it, if you don't want to be tracked.
Actually, don't bother... they can already track you from the mast signals.
Today I've been learning about public WiFi systems - the kind that they have in shops / cafes etc. The amount of data these things are capable of collating is amazing. I was logged into a management portal for a chain of retail outlets that also offer free WiFi in store. As your mobile is constantly polling for open WiFi networks, all WiFi access points in range hear it, and log the Mac address and phone details - whether you are in the place that offers free WiFi, or just happen to be walking past outside. I was looking at graphs of which phones were seen on a regular basis, how long they stayed in the area, when they often return etc. This is without you doing a thing or even knowing of the store's existence.
If you actually use the free WiFi facility, your privacy is generally toast. Many of these places ask you to sign in via Facebook - and in a microsecond your name, and those of your friends, everything you have about yourself on Facebook is logged and recorded. They (the retailer) now knows your name, age, gender, preferences, and now they also have the mac address of your phone so they know when you are anywhere near any of their stores. If a retailer has this information, you can bet your arse the security services have access to a huge number of such networks, thereby rendering your location largely traceable 24h a day - should they be interested. However, they've always been able to do that with mobiles using basic triangulation using three cells. Once your phone can see three masts, your location is known.
I've always known mobiles are traceable, but today I was blown away by how easy it is. If you think that MI5 are after you, take the tinfoil hat off your head and wrap it around your bloody mobile !
Donald Trump needs kicking out of a helicopter
Offset "(Emp) - a little heavy on the hyperbole."
Comments
Find somebody in your area. Your told say they are 1KM away. Use a second ID walk around a bit and try again. Again you get a distance reading. Do it again you get a third reading. Now you can triangulate very accurately.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I'm not locked in here with you, you are locked in here with me.
Of course any criminal (who isn't a complete spaz) will just buy a PAYG burner phone and not use wifi or anything like that.
The argument the government use to justify ever increasing surveillance is complete nonsense (notice it happened after 9/11, again after Lee Rigby and now again after Charlie Hebdo, yet it's never enough) and it annoys me that people swallow it. @d8m 's Big Brother pic is bang on the money.
All a bit panopticon for my liking though.
I'm not locked in here with you, you are locked in here with me.
Never bank or buy online from a phone device.
Turn it off when you don't need it.
It may be inconvenient once in a while but being stalked or having your details stolen is a might more inconvenient.