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If your smartphone gets stolen, you only have chances of getting it back if you had installed a tracking app inside it before it was stolen. However, the tracking app can be easily subject to removal upon a factory reset or complete SD card wipe.

So why don't phones come built in with a tracking app?

"US carriers reportedly rejected anti-theft 'kill switch' in Samsung phones"

"Anti-theft insurance profits may trump consumer protection"

"The 1.6 million US smartphone owners who had their handset stolen last year may think that a "kill switch" feature to disable the phone would be a good deterrent, but carriers reportedly don't agree.
Major carriers AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile are said to have rejected anti-theft software in Samsung smartphones sold in the US, according to a New York Times report today.
The reason? Carriers are more concerned about profiting from the insurance programs bundled with high-end phones, suggested San Francisco's District Attorney George Gascón."

Source:
US carriers reportedly rejected anti-theft 'kill switch' in Samsung phones
 - Tech Radar (http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/us-carriers-reportedly-spiked-anti-theft-kill-switch-in-samsung-phones-1200912)

Is this really a surprise?  Decision tree for US corporations has always been, "does it make us more money or less money". 

You want a hardware fucking tracking device?

You want to hand the global police state your privacy on a damn silver platter!

Fuck man, the smartphones are getting cheaper due to Moore's law. I wonder if there is anything but air between your ears.

I have a better idea that even guards your privacy, make some thermite in some kind of wooden box attached to the back ( so it's still flammable ) and set it up so that you can set it off with some kind of signal, then if it ever get stolen you can simply set the thing off and if someone has been a dick and stolen your phone it will burn up and either ruin their pocket making it obvious who the culprit is or burn their hand off depending on how much you've put in.

Tracking devices are pretty pointless and are easily messed with if the person knows how to mess with it, I'm not looking forward to the technology they're trying to push onto drivers in Britain.

You risk your own health just to punish a thief over an electronic good that is halving in price roughly every 18 months.

Your IQ is below 100.

---

 Luke 6:30

Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.

 Matthew 26:52-54

Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”

 Matthew 5:38-39

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

 Ephesians

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.

 2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

 Leviticus 19:18

You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

 Romans 12:19

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

Well that's a first, a guy called UnunoctiumTesticles is preaching the bible to me lol, just so you know, since you're clearly new here, I'm an Anarchist.

Is there encryption technology that could easily be built right into all cellphones so that all calls would be scrambled? This would make all phone calls not viewable or audio available except to the recipient phone... like a general phone PGP or GPG.

:)

Now you are thinking correctly.

Having "kill-switch" like features on all phones is something that would cost money. Wireless carriers would need to invest in this technology and would need to work with phone manufacturers in order to make this work.

You also have the issue that the reason a phone works is because a SIM card has been inserted into a phone and a SIM car can be switched out if someone wants to use a different account for a specific phone. This would make the technology effectively moot because someone could remove the SIM card

Okay first of all, nice name

Second, if you can encrypt your location information using end to end encryption services I don't see the problem.

People would cry hysterically if these aps were in-built and iremovable. The choice should be there.


Lethn isn't the smartest tool in the box and this suggestion is both equally ridiculous as it is hilarious. What happens if a kid picks up your phone or a stranger trying to return it to you and it burns their face off?  ::)

PGP still depending the where you store it. If you let Apple manage all that information, it is not that much different than what security certificates do these day.

This, this, and this.

Just read an article about it the other day. Why do we pretend to be outraged over the Snapchat data leaks when the NSA and corporations like Apple do the same thing with your data? (careless storage)

Although the encryption used in iPhones is not PGP, it is for the most part not crackable unless you know the 4 digit PIN (with only 10,000 combinations) and for most people will be just as good (with the exception of the limited number of PINS). If apple would allow for an actual password (instead of a PIN) to decrypt a phone then it's security would be more then enough for the vast majority of people 

 :D :D :D :D
Maybe you haven't (or have) noticed, this forum is acting like it's in its final days.

Crazy shit happening everywhere.

Well it's just the precursor to the new forum software
Which will then be a sieve
Unless you were talking about some sort of apocalyptic sign then I can see where that came from as well.

Regarding the monitoring software on a phone I would consider it a weapon that can be used against you involuntarily
Cell towers already do that to an extent but I guess the difference is that if your phone is stolen and the police aren't after you its not going to be traced with the alternative of everything is logged and traced back to you whether you want it to be so or not.

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

He's right though.   :-\

I'll bet good coins this forum, as it is, will be gone by early 2015.

Stay on topic guys!

That includes you, titlicker

What's the topic?  "This is ridiculous"  ??

"US carriers reportedly rejected anti-theft 'kill switch' in Samsung phones"

"Anti-theft insurance profits may trump consumer protection"

this is a very good argument as to why this feature should not be implemented. However I would think that the phones would be disabled via the cell towers regardless so if they have no connection to the towers then the phone company would have no way of disabling it (for example if the phone was kept in airplane mode)

Well if they are dedicated enough someone can still get the phone to send a transmission via forcing the tower to geolocate it even in Airplane mode.

7. Police Can Activate Phone GPS Location Tracking
Can police access the GPS data on your phone? According to a recent court ruling, they can not only access it, but activate GPS location tracking if it's disabled. That's one takeaway from last week's U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruling in a case involving Melvin Skinner, who was convicted of drug trafficking--and sentenced to 20 years in jail. Skinner argued that the GPS data tracking, which DEA agents used to track a motor home he was driving that was filled with 1,100 pounds of marijuana, violated his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search. In addition, according to a close reading of the court ruling, it turns out that police may not have merely tracked Skinner, but actually instructed his prepaid phone provider to activate the GPS functionality. The court, however, ruled that the DEA had acted lawfully.

http://www.darkreading.com/risk-management/7-facts-about-geolocation-privacy/d/d-id/1105877?

http://www.informationweek.com/mobile/lose-the-burners-court-okays-prepaid-phone-tracking/d/d-id/1105814?

Appeals court rules law enforcement agencies don't need a warrant to "ping" and track prepaid cellphone locations.
Prepaid cellphone users may be tracked by law enforcement agencies at any time, without police first having to obtain a probable-cause warrant.

WTF this is ridiculous. I would say this is likely some kind of vulnerability at the phone level, not the tower level, so in theory phones could be jailbroken to disable this ability (or google/apple could start using better morals and prevent this from happening at the hardware and/or OS level).

On somewhat of a side-note I would think this would be overturned via the supreme court as your phone's location is not public information and is very different from "metadata" that has generally been held that people do not have a reasonable expectation of keeping private. Not only that but if the phone was in airplane mode then it would be even more clear that the defendant did not want his location disclosed.

For the same reason that the screens break very very easy - money, they want you to buy a new one.

I think today's smartphone technology such as anti-theft technology has to be installed on the smartphone, it is a sort of competition of the smartphone manufacturers, with the technology it is expected that the theft of smartphones in the world will decline, hopefully this is a sign of progress that will continue to be updated ...  ::)

Not a vulnerability but an intentional creation.
The government mandates the GPS function on your cell phone so that they can track you in just this manner.  

http://www.informationweek.com/mobile/mobile-devices/gps-mandatory-on-mobile-phones-by-2018/d/d-id/1100561?

To modernize the 911 system, the FCC has ruled that all wireless carriers must offer GPS; VoIP services also.
In an effort to modernize the 911 system, the Federal Communications Commission issued a rule Sept. 27 that will mandate that all U.S. carriers include GPS in their phones by 2018. That includes VoIP services as well. The goal is to allow emergency workers to find your position when you dial 911, similar to the way they can when you call via landlines.

It just goes to show even ideas with good intentions have consequences.

Details on the conviction
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-14/marijuana-runner-had-no-phone-gps-privacy-right-court-says-1-.html

“If a tool used to transport contraband gives off a signal that can be tracked for location, certainly the police can track the signal,” U.S Circuit Judge John M. Rogers wrote. “The law cannot be that a criminal is entitled to rely on the expected untrackability of his tools.”

In a fragmented ruling addressing the affixing of a GPS device to a suspect’s car without a warrant, the high court majority said police in many cases will need a warrant to track suspects using those means.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia faulted the police for encroaching upon “a protected area.”

“No such physical intrusion occurred in Skinner’s case,” Rogers and Clay said in their ruling today.

Dissenting in part, U.S. Circuit Judge Bernice Donald said the discovery of Skinner’s location by using a mobile phone constituted a search as defined by the U.S. Constitution, requiring federal agents to obtain a warrant or explain why they should be granted an exception.

Donald concurred in Skinner’s ultimate conviction on other grounds.

“We do not mean to suggest there was no reasonable expectation of privacy because Skinner’s phone was used in the commission of a crime,” Rogers and Clay said in a footnote to their opinion. “On the contrary, an innocent actor would similarly lack a reasonable expectation of privacy in the inherent external locatability of a tool that he or she bought.”

The case is U.S. v. Skinner. 09-6497, U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (Cincinnati).

That's true. The government holds all the necessary technology to hunt you through your phone. Even when the SIM is removed.

Thanks, Google!

Well there was also the thread about ISIS and Iphones with the whole gay issue.
That said either phone company has tracking software, but at least with Android you can jailbreak and probably truly disable it if you can find the right software for the job.

Using bloatware to reduce bloatware makes no sense

Why not just manually uninstall all the crap that Samsung puts in their phones?

This is not necessarily true. It is possible to use a prepaid phone and/or edit the raw information in your phone to disguise your "phones" true "identity"

Only on Android devices with root access enabled

It is true that government can track any mobile phone without exceptions. If they really want find someone's phone they will find it. They can even spy on turned off electronic devices...

Stop exaggerating the powers of the government

If the phone is turned off and the battery is removed, there is no way for them to track a device unless they planted a GPS chip in it beforehand.

You are taking his statement too literally. His full quote is below:
He is saying that even if you have your phone in the "off" mode then the government is able to trick your phone into stealthy turn itself on and broadcast it's location. The same is true for when a phone is in airplane mode.