Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wouldn't feel safe until the battery is removed (which unfortunately isn't possible on most phones anymore) The baseband still has access to your battery when your phone is off.
> The baseband still has access to your battery when your phone is off. Citation needed? Because the definition of off, for most phones, is exactly that.
Signs of Secret Phone Surveillance Across London
41–50 of 104 posts
Re: Signs of Secret Phone Surveillance Across London
#42Recommended app for phones not doing this by default: https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=SnoopSnitch&...
also https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=imsi&fdid=co...
(does not need root)
Re: Signs of Secret Phone Surveillance Across London
#43I stayed in The City during the holidays and at one point walked close by the Police hq. After continuing on I enabled gps for a moment and even though I was half a mile a way my gps was showing me smack dab in the center of the police hq for about 15 minutes... I realized then what was happening and that I should have known better, but I had forgotten to ask a friend to take his faraday cage laptop bag and phone bag... I knew better and am still kicking myself for it.
The UK's level of surveillance is extremely unsetteling to me, and quite frankly I think a lot of Americans have forgotten all the reasons why the UK might not be as good of an ally as everyone thinks since the 47 USUK agreement. Thr point being that I really hope our politicians dont start adopting That level of surveillance just because they do it to.
It seems we have quietly been in a surveillance arms race, which isnt good for the population at all.
Re: Signs of Secret Phone Surveillance Across London
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd have thought simply switching the phone off would be easier? Much better on your battery life too, if the phone turns the transmit power up to try and reach a base station.
If your phone doesn't have a removable battery, how do you know if it's really off?
low power devices now exist that can live of small traces of power. Even with the battery removed, how can you be sure it's still not listening?...
Re: Signs of Secret Phone Surveillance Across London
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
If your phone doesn't have a removable battery, how do you know if it's really off?
Not entirely relevant but note that if a power switch does not have a mechanical difference between the off and on state then there must be an active component that at the very least must monitor the power button to detect presses. I don't really know, but it seems likely that in a smart phone the SOC is used to monitor the power button and it is therefore only ever in a very low power state (sans battery removal). T…
I think you could do that in a passive way as well, where the act of pressing the button powers up a circuit that holds the power on.
Re: Signs of Secret Phone Surveillance Across London
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
Good point, asking for a citation. It's an extraordinary claim and so requires something to back it up. A quick search turns up this quote from a 2013 Washington Post story "By September 2004, a new NSA technique enabled the agency to find cellphones even when they were turned off. JSOC troops called this “The Find,” and it gave them thousands of new targets, including members of a burgeoning al-Qaeda-sponsored insur…
That WaPo news has been debunked: http://blog.erratasec.com/2013/07/no-nsa-cant-track-phones-e... There is NSA method called 'implant', but it requires installation of software (possibly in the firmware). It's not so easy and it can't be used in large scale.
Reading the blog post, it definitely does not 'debunk' the Washington Post report. All it does is take issue with Snowden's blanket claim that all mobiles are vulnerable (which is a good point and is one I'm inclined to agree with).
Re: Signs of Secret Phone Surveillance Across London
#47It doesn't really comes as a surprise, but it's good to see the news coming out. Now we need a legal framework to ensure this form of power isn't abused.
We the west, or America?
Re: Signs of Secret Phone Surveillance Across London
#48If a technology exists, and can feasibly be leveraged by a party to its advantage, then you should assume that it is happening.
Re: Signs of Secret Phone Surveillance Across London
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wouldn't feel safe until the battery is removed (which unfortunately isn't possible on most phones anymore) The baseband still has access to your battery when your phone is off.
If your phone is lying to you about being switched off, then it's already compromised (and you're probably under some highly targeted surveillance already). If I had any evidence this had happened to me, I'd get rid of the phone instead of trusting it under any circumstances. For the example of a protest march, if you're a participant or even a bystander walking home wanting to avoid being caught up in a surveillance…
Any number of phones over the years have/had functionality separate from the main OS (and in some cases backed with a small secondary battery) to trigger the phone to wake up to play alarms etc.. Given that the baseband code is totally closed and has total control over the phone, if the physical capability is there all it takes is a suitable vulnerability.
I would not trust that any modern smartphone is fully off without yanking the battery.
Re: Signs of Secret Phone Surveillance Across London
#50It doesn't really comes as a surprise, but it's good to see the news coming out. Now we need a legal framework to ensure this form of power isn't abused.
We the west, or America?
We humans?
edit: aside from that utopic reply, what I mean is "any country that has cellphones and want to protect their citizen should implement a legal framework to prevent abuse"