"Can You Hear Me Now?", is the title of a piece written on

[dae]

ABC's blog, The Blotter. Written by: Vic Walter and Krista Kjellman it informs you how easy it is for the FBI to use your cell phone to listen in on your Conversations, even when you're not on the phone!
Link: http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/

"CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?"

"Cell phone users, beware. The FBI can listen to everything you say, even when the cell phone is turned off.

A recent court ruling in a case against the Genovese crime family revealed that the FBI has the ability from a remote location to activate a cell phone and turn its microphone into a listening device that transmits to an FBI listening post, a method known as a "roving bug." Experts say the only way to defeat it is to remove the cell phone battery.

"The FBI can access cell phones and modify them remotely without ever having to physically handle them," James Atkinson, a counterintelligence security consultant, told ABC News. "Any recently manufactured cell phone has a built-in tracking device, which can allow eavesdroppers to pinpoint someone's location to within just a few feet," he added.

...snip...

At least I know all I have to do is holler for help if I need it...right?

[lildreamer316]

1. We need to find a way...

to use the phone without the battery....or does that make any sense at all. Eh, I'm not suprised.

[CrispyQ]

2. "recently manufactured"

How recent, I wonder?

There are advantages to staying with old equipment.

[dae]

4. Probably within the last 18-24 months. Cell phones are now

required to have the locater in them because of 9-1-1 calls. Most 911 districts/counties/parishes(in Louisiana)have Phase I capability. This lets the calltaker know what tower you are hitting and gives them a call back number. Phase II which is very spotty, depending on where you live in the U.S. gives you location within 150 meters (I think). Phase III, if anyone has it other than the Government I don't know, gives the calltaker your location within a few feet.
Cellphone makers had deadlines to meet because the phase deployment that were to be met.
They did, local governments couldn't.

[nashville_brook]

3. so... if the CIA can do it, why shouldn't anyone else be able to figure it out?