cue another cell phone spying scandal

[drinkmorejava]

Just called Verizon for a bill credit I didn't receive. That part was easy, but what surprised me were the representatives comments.

"I see you've been traveling around a lot recently...Thailand"
"erm what, how do you know that, I didn't have my sim card in" (and the mobile network was off)
"well our system sends a message every time it connects" (or something like that)

Not entirely surprising that it phones home, but at same time I wasn't expecting to hear that they always know where my phone is when it shouldn't be talking to them.

 

[rudeguy]

sigh...this is not spying, its how cell phones work

They ping a tower every so often.


SIGH.....

 

[Newbian]

So how many man traps did you run into on your thailand trip?

 

[lxskllr]

sigh...this is not spying, its how cell phones work

They ping a tower every so often.


SIGH.....

Doesn't mean it isn't spying.

 

[rudeguy]

Doesn't mean it isn't spying.

it has to ping a tower in order to make calls/receive send data or texts. Do you not...


fuck it...have fun

 

[dabuddha]

I thought verizon doesn't use SIM cards.

 

[Kadarin]

You can bet that location data went right to the NSA.

 

[lxskllr]

it has to ping a tower in order to make calls/receive send data or texts. Do you not...


fuck it...have fun

I know very well how it works. It doesn't change the fact it collects data, and keeps it virtually forever for anyone who has the right amount of money, or a tin badge. Because it's inherent in the network doesn't magically take the spying away.

 

[purbeast0]

glad i'm not as paranoid as 99% of the nerds on this forum.

 

[drinkmorejava]

it has to ping a tower in order to make calls/receive send data or texts. Do you not...


fuck it...have fun

wireless was off specifically so I didn't receive anything and get charged.

 

[rudeguy]

wireless was off specifically so I didn't receive anything and get charged.

Orlly?

Please tell me where you went in settings to do this.

 

[drinkmorejava]

I thought verizon doesn't use SIM cards.

For cdma they didn't, but they added one for 4g. I can only do emergency calls without one.

 

[drinkmorejava]

Orlly?

Please tell me where you went in settings to do this.

Settings. Networks Connections. Mobile Network.

What kind of phone do you have that doesn't have this?

 

[rudeguy]

Settings. Networks Connections. Mobile Network.

What kind of phone do you have that doesn't have this?

you did not turn off all wireless connections, only mobile data. I have a Note 2 with Verizon, so I am very familiar with the phone and know that it is not possible to "turn wireless off".

 

[MtnMan]

Doesn't mean it isn't spying.

If it didn't keep in touch with the towers, no one could call you.

Turn it off, same results.

 

[drinkmorejava]

We can talk after you find someone else who thinks I meant that I also turned off wifi.

The point is wifi is not their network and they shouldn't be using it for their purposes.

 

[rudeguy]

We can talk after you find someone else who thinks I meant that I also turned off wifi.

The point is wifi is not their network and they shouldn't be using it for their purposes.

sigh...

Verizon phones contain many radios. CDMA, EDGE and LTE to name a few. You only turned the data portion, CDMA was still enabled, which pings the towers. If you wanted to ensure you wouldn't access foreign networks, airplane mode would have worked.

In the end your phone worked the way it should have. There was no spying and no scandal. Now please smash your phone into a thousand pieces and never post again.

 

[drinkmorejava]

Turning off mobile networks means turn off all the radios. You may be describing how it works, but it is certainly not how it "should" work.

Turning off just data is a sub option on the z10.

 

[Blackjack200]

Guys guys, google is spying on me! I did a search for a waste management dumpster and now I keep seeing ads for dumpsters on all the pages I visit!!

 

[Rakehellion]

Turning off mobile networks means turn off all the radios. You may be describing how it works, but it is certainly not how it "should" work.

Turning off just data is a sub option on the z10.

If you turned off all antennas, then it sounds like you have a beef with your operating system not doing what you thought it should, not with Verizon. But I'm pretty sure it was user error.

glad i'm not as paranoid as 99% of the nerds on this forum.

Yep.

 

[Rakehellion]

Turning off mobile networks means turn off all the radios. You may be describing how it works, but it is certainly not how it "should" work.

Turning off just data is a sub option on the z10.

Ooh, post a screenshot, please!

 

[Kadarin]

glad i'm not as paranoid as 99% of the nerds on this forum.

One thing Snowden taught us is that it's not paranoia and conspiracy theory if they actually are monitoring us.

 

[Printer Bandit]

can they can listen and track if the phone is turned off with the battery out? if so, that's some kind of voodoo magic.

 

[lxskllr]

can they can listen and track if the phone is turned off with the battery out? if so, that's some kind of voodoo magic.

It can be done with the phone off, but not with the battery out. If you have someone following you using the special tricks, you have more problems than a phone :^D

 

[Printer Bandit]

It can be done with the phone off, but not with the battery out. If you have someone following you using the special tricks, you have more problems than a phone :^D

good to know. i better brush up on my tradecraft then.