Question Cell phone trackers..

IGBT

Lifer
Jul 16, 2001
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Do cell phone trackers work? Has anybody used a tracker that simply uses the cell phone number?
 

Steltek

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2001
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753
136
I can tell you what happened to my brother's idiot stepdaughter, who put a cell tracker on her boyfriend's phone.

It worked just fine up until he found it and subsequently filed charges and had her arrested. She ended up charged with multiple felonies including stalking under Georgia State law. Cost my brother $5k to get her a lawyer (at the insistence of his wife) who was able to keep her out of the state pen and eventually plead her case down to misdemeanor stalking and a year's probation.

Personally, I think he should have let her go to jail because she is still an idiot and didn't learn anything from the experience.
 
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IGBT

Lifer
Jul 16, 2001
17,949
133
106
I can tell you what happened to my brother's idiot stepdaughter, who put a cell tracker on her boyfriend's phone.

It worked just fine up until he found it and subsequently filed charges and had her arrested. She ended up charged with multiple felonies including stalking under Georgia State law. Cost my brother $5k to get her a lawyer (at the insistence of his wife) who was able to keep her out of the state pen and eventually plead her case down to misdemeanor stalking and a year's probation.

Personally, I think he should have let her go to jail because she is still an idiot and didn't learn anything from the experience.
Is there anything out there that will allow a simple GPS location of a phone i.e. cell phone number rather then downloading an "app"?? Cell phones are constantly "handshaking" with cell cites. Seems like there should be a simple GPS locater thru a cell phone number...?
 

Steltek

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2001
3,042
753
136
The one she was using required a subscription app. I doubt there'd be anything free simply because it would raise a lot of privacy issues.
 
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WelshBloke

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
30,443
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Is there anything out there that will allow a simple GPS location of a phone i.e. cell phone number rather then downloading an "app"?? Cell phones are constantly "handshaking" with cell cites. Seems like there should be a simple GPS locater thru a cell phone number...?
Can we ask the circumstances of this tracking?
Because what your asking certainly can be done, it just normally needs a warrant to do it. Unless it's your phone, in which case there's a bunch of find my phone apps.
 
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IGBT

Lifer
Jul 16, 2001
17,949
133
106
Can we ask the circumstances of this tracking?
Because what your asking certainly can be done, it just normally needs a warrant to do it. Unless it's your phone, in which case there's a bunch of find my phone apps.
I have a friend that's in the habit of disappearing for weeks on end and her family would like some indication if the phone is still working...
 

WelshBloke

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
30,443
8,109
136
I have a friend that's in the habit of disappearing for weeks on end and her family would like some indication if the phone is still working...
I've been through something like that with a friend. We had to go through the police and they got the information from the phone company.
 

mindless1

Diamond Member
Aug 11, 2001
8,057
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Is there anything out there that will allow a simple GPS location of a phone i.e. cell phone number rather then downloading an "app"?? Cell phones are constantly "handshaking" with cell cites. Seems like there should be a simple GPS locater thru a cell phone number...?
Not at all, it would be a gross invasion of privacy and very risky to let everyone track the location of anyone from their cell #.

As already stated, you need a court order to get logs from a cell provider... not even sure it's that simple to get it realtime, would probably need someone higher up in the food chain to collaborate in realtime rather than dated logs of past locations.

I'm not so sure that evidence the phone is working is all that useful, doesn't tell you if he/she is alive or in possession of the phone.

If the person is a minor, get police involved. If not, they still have a right to privacy even if intent on self destruction, unless it is so overt that there's a compelling argument of risk of harming oneself then you might be able to get the court order to apprehend and have committed for psych eval.