Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

"Let's ban tiny phones" - UK Government

shkspr.mobi

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 79 posts

Re: "Let's ban tiny phones" - UK Government

#51

Post by gngeal »

nicholassmith wrote: post #38
gngeal wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So if jammers are out of the question, what about detectors?

Guards generally carry phones on them as well so there'll be quite a few false positives.

Isn't it possible to separate the trafic? I'm not versed in the GSM standard, but there must be some form of authentication. It might be possible to recognize to whom the signal belongs. (In the worst case, cooperation of the cell service providers could be mandated by law in the network cells covering the prison premises.)

Re: "Let's ban tiny phones" - UK Government

#52

Post by omh »

frank_boyd wrote: post #16

Totally ridiculous and not justifiable. Just install jammers at the jails. The real reason for a ban must be elsewhere.

There would be problems with interference from jammers.

I've spent time in a hospital overlooking a jail, and I really wouldn't have appreciated my mobile signals being jammed.

Re: "Let's ban tiny phones" - UK Government

#53

Post by Dakos »

What I don't understand is that these phones don't seem to be aimed at inmates. As other people have pointed out small phones have been around for a while, their size hasn't proved useful to smugglers. Furthermore the particular phones under attack here a designed to look like a car key. Which if I imagine is just as contraband as a phone is.

Seems like the government is attacking these phones under false pretences, which is what really worries me here.

Re: "Let's ban tiny phones" - UK Government

#54

Post by tomjen3 »

hmottestad wrote: post #28
edent wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious about two things. Firstly, how do you charge a phone? I wouldn't have thought cells had plug points. Secondly, is there any realistic way of stopping phones getting in? Building higher fences, and putting sensors on them, sounds like one way of stopping throwovers for example. T

New UK startup: We deliver your package by anonymous drone. Drop from any height with or without parachute at any hour of the day. You mail us your package together and a form specifying when, where and how your package should be delivered. Use the calulator on our webpages to calculate the price of the delivery. Cash or check is accepted. Any change can be delivered with your package. Specify drop height, parachute,…

Interesting idea, but that wouldn't work, the authorities wouldn't let the drones close enough to the prisons.

Oh and the drones I have seen available can't handle enough weight to lift much of anything.

Re: "Let's ban tiny phones" - UK Government

#55

Post by mhd »

zxcdw wrote: post #44
smtddr wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>These people have already shown that they don't care about the law - that's why they're in jail While I agree banning small cellphones is useless, I don't care for this generalization. Not everyone in jail has a blatant disregard for law. For some it was just a moment of desperation, for some it was for some silly reason like weed, some may just be young people making mistakes and had the misfortune of being one of…

But still a good proportition of them ends up spending their lives in there by returning again and again if not being sentenced for life straight away. It's as if being a criminal was a lifestyle some people choose to adopt from the beginning. They don't even want out of it, and some want back "in" because that's where the culture strives.

Any numbers on how large that "good proportion" is in the UK? This sounds a bit too Guy Ritchie to me.

Re: "Let's ban tiny phones" - UK Government

#56

Post by TeMPOraL »

tomjen3 wrote: post #54
hmottestad wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

New UK startup: We deliver your package by anonymous drone. Drop from any height with or without parachute at any hour of the day. You mail us your package together and a form specifying when, where and how your package should be delivered. Use the calulator on our webpages to calculate the price of the delivery. Cash or check is accepted. Any change can be delivered with your package. Specify drop height, parachute,…

Interesting idea, but that wouldn't work, the authorities wouldn't let the drones close enough to the prisons. Oh and the drones I have seen available can't handle enough weight to lift much of anything.

> Interesting idea, but that wouldn't work, the authorities wouldn't let the drones close enough to the prisons.

Couldn't they instead mortar things into the prison? Shoot a capsule with a phone on a very steep ballistic trajectory.

Re: "Let's ban tiny phones" - UK Government

#57

Post by [deleted] »

mhd wrote: post #55
zxcdw wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But still a good proportition of them ends up spending their lives in there by returning again and again if not being sentenced for life straight away. It's as if being a criminal was a lifestyle some people choose to adopt from the beginning. They don't even want out of it, and some want back "in" because that's where the culture strives.

Any numbers on how large that "good proportion" is in the UK? This sounds a bit too Guy Ritchie to me.

[deleted]

Re: "Let's ban tiny phones" - UK Government

#58

Post by [deleted] »

JonnieCache wrote: post #36
edent wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious about two things. Firstly, how do you charge a phone? I wouldn't have thought cells had plug points. Secondly, is there any realistic way of stopping phones getting in? Building higher fences, and putting sensors on them, sounds like one way of stopping throwovers for example. T

If you want to know what life in a UK prison is actually like, read this ebook, HMP - A Survival Guide http://issuu.com/prisonism/docs/hmp_a_survival_guide It's a down to earth practical guide aimed at someone who hasn't been to prison before. The ToC features such chapters as Sharing A Cell, Violence, Getting Stuff Done (Complaints and Applications and so on. Smoking teabags, making toast using the radiator, cooking…

[deleted]

Re: "Let's ban tiny phones" - UK Government

#59

Post by IgorPartola »

onetimeonly wrote: post #24
edent wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious about two things. Firstly, how do you charge a phone? I wouldn't have thought cells had plug points. Secondly, is there any realistic way of stopping phones getting in? Building higher fences, and putting sensors on them, sounds like one way of stopping throwovers for example. T

Cells in UK jails are not barren concrete-and-metal things like in the movies. They have a sink, a desk, a kettle, a TV, a (usually padded) chair and a bed. You charge your phone by plugging it in :). Another fact many people don't know is that you can buy things, legally, in prison. By things, I mean pretty much anything in the Argos catalogue. You get an allowance of £10/week which you can save up (you have to earn…

Why don't they put some type of device that suppresses the GSM frequencies near each cell? Not that I am advocating this, just wondering why they haven't done that.
Post reply on HN