Mobile Phone Tracking and Tracing

If you ping a mobile phone location service is transparent and extracts the data from the network operator as to the location of the mobile that you want to track. In essence, we get the same data as the police regarding the movement and location of mobiles.

Mobile phone tracking is not an exact science and accuracy will vary depending upon the cell mast density of the area that the mobile is within.

We have seen mobile phone accuracy as precise as 100m in central London (where there are many cell masts) and as inaccurate as 10km in the Scottish Highlands(where there are few cell masts).

We have also seen fluctuations where a local cell mast is down or overloaded with calls, when you requested a location. This can result in the mobile phone being logged onto a longer range mast by your network operator and accuracy in such cases can diminish. However, the movement of the phone throughout the day to differing locations will minimise any user experience effected by network failures/overloads in specific area.

What Is GPS?

GPS (global positioning system] is a worldwide radio-navigation system formed from the grouping of 24 satellites and their ground stations. It is a system mainly used to locate the user's position at a time. Although GPS was originally intended for military applications, but now it is mainly used in marine, location-based services and terrestrial navigation. GPS can work for 24 hours in any type of weather condition, irrespective of sun and rain. The GPS satellite circles the earth twice a day in a precise orbit and transmits signal information to earth. GPS receivers take into this information and use 'triangulation method' to calculate the user's exact location. The meaning of 'triangulation' is receiving radio signals from a distance. Along with knowing the distance, you also need to know exactly the position of the satellites in space. This is done with the help of high orbits and carefully monitoring the instruments for locating the satellites. Finally you also need to correct any type of delays that the signal can experience as it has to travel for a long distance through the atmosphere.

GPS Applications

GPS is important as it helps you to figure out where you are and where you are going when you are travelling from one place to another. Navigation and positioning are important but cumbersome activities, which GPS makes it easier. Once located via GPS, it starts tracing other factors like speed, bearing, tracks, trip distance, sunrise/sunset time, distance to destination and several other details. GPS uses 'man-made' stars as reference points to calculate positions accurate to a matter of meters. So it is with the aid of GPS that you can give a unique and specified address to every square meter on the planet. So these days GPS finds its way into cars, planes, boats, construction equipments, farm machinery and laptop computers.

What is a Cell Phone Ping or Mobile Phone Tracker

Pinging a cell phone is finding out what cell tower their phone is in. This can be used to locate a person that you know has the cell phone. This is used by law enforcement on a regular basis. Usually the information is provided by the cellular provider and you have to have an account with them. In 911 systems the location is broadcast with the call. If a bad guy is carrying a cell phone the phone is constantly sending signals to the closest cell tower, even if the phone isn't in use. The location of the cell tower will tell you that the person is within a certain range. When the person moves they can be tracked by which cell towers the signal is bouncing to. Now cell phones come with GPS so your exact location can be traced. Even when your phone is turned off!! Also, the phones can be used as a listening device. It can be activated via a cell phone tower and law enforcement can listen to everything said within range of the cell phone. The phone doesn't even have to be turned on. It's like you are carrying around a microphone. Many ways of listening to people are being developed and put to use right under our noses. ONstar has been used to listen in on criminals by law enforcement. the microphone for ONSTAR in your car can be activated remotely so your conversation in the car can be listened to. If you want to remain anonymous with a cell phone use a prepaid phone and don't send in your information for a mail in rebate. Because the phone will then be registered to your name. If nobody knows your phone number or ESN number then they can't trace your phone by cell towers. And definitely not by GPS. As for the ONSTAR, well, most people in the know disconnect it. Cable boxes are also being used to listen in on people in their homes. The signal is sent over the same coax cable to the head-end where a server records you conversations if you have been targeted. But, back to Pinging a phone, it's finding out what cell tower grid the phone is in so a person can be located. The ESN or phone number of the cell phone needs to be known. The cell phone provider can provide this information but you have to be allowed to have it. I think bail bondsmen are

CELL PHONE PINGS

You may remember that a young woman was recently abducted from a Target parking lot in Overland Park, a suburb of Kansas City. Her body was discovered many miles away in Missouri. They were able to locate her by the sequence of cell phone towers that picked up her cell phone location. She had not attempted to dial out, but when her family was trying to call her the towers could sense her phone. Sadly, the authorities were not able to reach her in time. However, they were able to locate her body which was in an area where they never would have searched without the cell phone tower information. Below is information from my daughter-in-law who lives in Kansas City. The cell phone "locator" can be either set on "E911" in which case you must dial out to be located, or it can be set to be on all the time. I called my cell phone company and was assured there is no negative consequence (like higher battery use) from having it on all the time. With it on all the time you can be located by emergency services through the police if you fail to respond (sick, injured, or worse). I think this is worth passing it on. I found that on my phone "location" was not on. I turned it on so my phone can be traced. See below for more info that was sent to me by someone here at work: On the radio today, they talked about a feature that ALL cell phones have. It's called Location. It's under the Settings tool. Once you turn this on, THEN your phone is traceable. To stay safe, everyone needs to check their phone and turn this on!!! Please pass the word to everyone you know. Origins: Cell phones have been used by law enforcement to locate people in missing persons cases and other criminal matters (for instance, it was Kelsey Smith's cell phone that led police to her body), but cell phones have also been used to narrow the search for those who've had car accidents or have gotten lost in remote areas. They've even been used to find people whose loved ones had cause to conclude were intent upon harming themselves, as was the case in December 2006, when the pings from a Buffalo college student's cell phone led police to him in time to avert his suicide. There's nothing magical to it: For mobile phones to work they have to be in regular contact with cell towers, so when handsets are on, they emit signals (called "pings") to nearby cell towers every few minutes to let the network know where they are. Most mobile phone companies keep records of calls to and from phones as well as a limited number of recent routine locater pings (sometimes just the last ping, sometimes up to 24 hours worth of them). Although the location of a cellular handset can be traced via pings, there are two problems with using this method in emergency situations: One is that ping histories are part of customers' private phone records, and law enforcement agencies have to obtain subpoenas before gaining access to them. The other is that pings narrow the physical location of a phone only to the coverage region of a particular cell tower, an area that can encompass several square miles. If an endangered cell phone user is able to place a call to 911, these stumbling blocks can be overcome because most wireless phones manufactured within the last few years are GPS-capable and can use signals from the federal government's Global Positioning System satellites to help estimate their locations. When the user of a wireless phone calls 911, the call is routed to a designated emergency call taker known as a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), usually local or county police, fire, or rescue services. If the handling PSAP has upgraded their phone system to Enhanced 911 (also known as E911) Phase II standards, they can use GPS information transmitted by a caller's cell phone to estimate the location of the caller to within about 50 to 300 meters (or better) and thereby guide them in getting emergency assistance to the proper area more quickly. (All 911 calls already send information that enables PSAPs to automatically retrieve information such as the caller's phone number, the name and address associated with that phone number, and the general location of a wireless phone as calculated from tower sites, so even in areas where E911 Phase II technology has not yet been implemented, a 911 caller can generally be located even if he is unable to give his location to dispatchers.) But what if, as suggested in the message quoted above, a cell phone user is injured, unconscious, or otherwise unable to use his cell phone to call 911? Can he still be quickly and accurately located through his cell phone, provided it's configured with the proper setting? We've listed this item as "partly true" because we've queried several Verizon techs and received conflicting answers about the difference between the "E911 Only" to "Location On" settings. I finally talked to a Verizon public relations representative to try to get a definitive answer, and he asserted that (contrary to the claim made in the message quoted above) the "Location On" setting does not turn one's handset into a beacon that is traceable whenever the phone is turned on, even if the user does not make any calls. He said that no matter which setting is chosen, the user still has to place a call to 911 in order for emergency services to locate him or her, and that enabling the "Location On" option only allows authorized applications other than 911 services (such as Verizon's Navigator and Chaperone systems) to determine a handset's location. (Keep in mind that all of this information is variable — whether this particular feature will work, and how well, depends upon factors such as the model of handset you use, which carrier provides your wireless service, what equipment is available to whomever you call, where you're calling from, and current atmospheric conditions.) One good piece of general cell phone advice is that should you find yourself lost in a remote area, even if you cannot raise enough of a signal to make a call, at least power up your phone periodically and leave it on for a few minutes to enable it to send out pings to nearby towers. The record of those pings will help searchers figure out where to look for you.
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