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  1. #1
    MAT
    Guest
    I have a i1000plus provided by my employer which has recently broken. I'm
    soon to get a replacement i730. I thought I would do a little pre-research
    on the phone and see that it has the GPS capability, this got me thinking
    about what information the account administrator has access to. Can the
    person in charge of our Nextel account casually find coordinates on my
    phone? Creepy! In hindsight, what are the other privacy issues involved
    with being under a managed plan? I've never had a cell phone except Nextels
    from work so I dont know what kind of info is on a billing statement. I'm
    sure they see incoming and out going calls but how about web-sent text
    messages? How about direct-connect? Do they see every direct connect on
    the statement? Yikes, the paranoia bug!





    See More: Nextel Privacy




  2. #2
    Scott Stephenson
    Guest

    Re: Nextel Privacy


    "MAT" <marcoatRM_SPAM@DEL_SPAmsnotmail.com> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]...
    > I have a i1000plus provided by my employer which has recently broken. I'm
    > soon to get a replacement i730. I thought I would do a little

    pre-research
    > on the phone and see that it has the GPS capability, this got me thinking
    > about what information the account administrator has access to. Can the
    > person in charge of our Nextel account casually find coordinates on my
    > phone? Creepy! In hindsight, what are the other privacy issues involved
    > with being under a managed plan? I've never had a cell phone except

    Nextels
    > from work so I dont know what kind of info is on a billing statement. I'm
    > sure they see incoming and out going calls but how about web-sent text
    > messages? How about direct-connect? Do they see every direct connect on
    > the statement? Yikes, the paranoia bug!
    >
    >


    Well, if the guy paying the bill asks for GPS tracking capability, I'm sure
    he'd get it. As far as the other stuff goes, they might see the DC minutes,
    but I can't remember if they get DC detail.

    BTW- don't expect ANY privacy on an employer-provided phone. In most cases,
    they never look at this stuff, but then again.........






  3. #3
    Offri
    Guest

    Re: Nextel Privacy

    Nextel or the NSA for that matter don't need the GPS in your phone to
    pinpoint your location
    it can easily be obtained by triangulating your cellphone signal between two
    towers



    "MAT" <marcoatRM_SPAM@DEL_SPAmsnotmail.com> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]...
    > I have a i1000plus provided by my employer which has recently broken. I'm
    > soon to get a replacement i730. I thought I would do a little

    pre-research
    > on the phone and see that it has the GPS capability, this got me thinking
    > about what information the account administrator has access to. Can the
    > person in charge of our Nextel account casually find coordinates on my
    > phone? Creepy! In hindsight, what are the other privacy issues involved
    > with being under a managed plan? I've never had a cell phone except

    Nextels
    > from work so I dont know what kind of info is on a billing statement. I'm
    > sure they see incoming and out going calls but how about web-sent text
    > messages? How about direct-connect? Do they see every direct connect on
    > the statement? Yikes, the paranoia bug!
    >
    >






  4. #4
    DevilsPGD
    Guest

    Re: Nextel Privacy

    In message <<[email protected]>> "Offri" <[email protected]> did
    ramble:

    >Nextel or the NSA for that matter don't need the GPS in your phone to
    >pinpoint your location
    >it can easily be obtained by triangulating your cellphone signal between two
    >towers


    Sure, but this isn't a service Nextel offers to your typical PHB.
    However, GPS *is*

    --
    They'll say, 'You can't joke about rape. Rape's not funny.'
    I can prove to you that rape is funny. Picture Porky Pig raping Elmer Fudd.
    See? Hey, why do you think they call him Porky?
    -- George Carlin



  5. #5
    MarkF
    Guest

    Re: Nextel Privacy

    It actually takes 3 towers...that's why it's called "TRIangulation" ;-)

    Mark

    "Offri" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    > Nextel or the NSA for that matter don't need the GPS in your phone to
    > pinpoint your location
    > it can easily be obtained by triangulating your cellphone signal between two
    > towers
    >
    >
    >
    > "MAT" <marcoatRM_SPAM@DEL_SPAmsnotmail.com> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > I have a i1000plus provided by my employer which has recently broken. I'm
    > > soon to get a replacement i730. I thought I would do a little

    > pre-research
    > > on the phone and see that it has the GPS capability, this got me thinking
    > > about what information the account administrator has access to. Can the
    > > person in charge of our Nextel account casually find coordinates on my
    > > phone? Creepy! In hindsight, what are the other privacy issues involved
    > > with being under a managed plan? I've never had a cell phone except

    > Nextels
    > > from work so I dont know what kind of info is on a billing statement. I'm
    > > sure they see incoming and out going calls but how about web-sent text
    > > messages? How about direct-connect? Do they see every direct connect on
    > > the statement? Yikes, the paranoia bug!
    > >
    > >




  6. #6
    dep_blueman
    Guest

    Re: Nextel Privacy

    Cellular detail: Yes.

    DC Detail: Not on a 'regular' bill; don't know if it is available if
    asked for or not

    2-way text: This is stored on the Nextel WAP servers so I guess your
    boss could get to it if access was setup correctly and your phone was
    set to save sent messages

    GPS: The software in the 730 is designed just for the use you suggest;
    a company wants to keep track of its phones (and users) using GPS
    data. The phones can be setup so that a PIN is required to access the
    GPS configuration screens on the phone preventing the end user from
    turning off the GPS receiver. From there, Nextel offers software to
    track and report on GPS phones in a fleet/account. There are 3rd
    party offerings as well. When you get your phone just try to access
    the GPS screen in the menu and turn off the GPS. IF you can get to it
    you are OK; if not then it is safe to assume your company may be
    tracking the phone.


    "MAT" <marcoatRM_SPAM@DEL_SPAmsnotmail.com> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    > I have a i1000plus provided by my employer which has recently broken. I'm
    > soon to get a replacement i730. I thought I would do a little pre-research
    > on the phone and see that it has the GPS capability, this got me thinking
    > about what information the account administrator has access to. Can the
    > person in charge of our Nextel account casually find coordinates on my
    > phone? Creepy! In hindsight, what are the other privacy issues involved
    > with being under a managed plan? I've never had a cell phone except Nextels
    > from work so I dont know what kind of info is on a billing statement. I'm
    > sure they see incoming and out going calls but how about web-sent text
    > messages? How about direct-connect? Do they see every direct connect on
    > the statement? Yikes, the paranoia bug!




  7. #7
    MAT
    Guest

    Re: Nextel Privacy


    > Cellular detail: Yes.
    >
    > DC Detail: Not on a 'regular' bill; don't know if it is available if
    > asked for or not
    >
    > 2-way text: This is stored on the Nextel WAP servers so I guess your
    > boss could get to it if access was setup correctly and your phone was
    > set to save sent messages
    >
    > GPS: The software in the 730 is designed just for the use you suggest;
    > a company wants to keep track of its phones (and users) using GPS
    > data. The phones can be setup so that a PIN is required to access the
    > GPS configuration screens on the phone preventing the end user from
    > turning off the GPS receiver. From there, Nextel offers software to
    > track and report on GPS phones in a fleet/account. There are 3rd
    > party offerings as well. When you get your phone just try to access
    > the GPS screen in the menu and turn off the GPS. IF you can get to it
    > you are OK; if not then it is safe to assume your company may be
    > tracking the phone.


    Thanks for the detailed feedback! I don't think the account admin would go
    out of the way to check the GPS info and I'm relieved that I can disable the
    gps if I want to. She gave me the option of the current Nextel phones and
    the i730 was reasonabley priced so I chose it. It's doubtful she would
    implement any fleet tracking feature at an extra cost. I won't get any
    extra online access or 2 way text messaging, but what about the freebie 1
    way messages from the web? My wife uses it a lot and though not exactly
    'confidential', I don't like the idea of somebody knowing what movie to get
    or that I need to stop by the store to get some milk, and every once in a
    while a racy message which I would choose to keep between us!






  8. #8
    DevilsPGD
    Guest

    Re: Nextel Privacy

    In message <<[email protected]>>
    [email protected] (MarkF) did ramble:

    >It actually takes 3 towers...that's why it's called "TRIangulation" ;-)


    Will normal triangulation, two towers can narrow it down to 2 possible
    locations with a large margin of error. The two towers, plus the cell
    phone form the triangle.

    However, a single cell tower typically has 6 antenna, each facing
    different directions. This makes it possible for a single tower to give
    you a general direction. The second tower also gives you a general
    direction which reduces the margin of error.
    --
    Nobody ever lost money underestimating the human intelligence.
    -- P.T.Barnum



  9. #9
    MarkF
    Guest

    Re: Nextel Privacy

    DevilsPGD <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<z_%[email protected]>...
    > In message <<[email protected]>>
    > [email protected] (MarkF) did ramble:
    >
    > >It actually takes 3 towers...that's why it's called "TRIangulation" ;-)

    >
    > Will normal triangulation, two towers can narrow it down to 2 possible
    > locations with a large margin of error. The two towers, plus the cell
    > phone form the triangle.
    >
    > However, a single cell tower typically has 6 antenna, each facing
    > different directions. This makes it possible for a single tower to give
    > you a general direction. The second tower also gives you a general
    > direction which reduces the margin of error.


    The only part that is correct is that the carrier can utilize the
    sectors to give an approximate direction, but it still takes 3 towers
    to give an accurate location such as a GPS would give.

    Why would you bother using 2 towers if it gives you a LARGE margin of
    error? Isn't the goal here to find the person/phone.

    I still stand by my previous statement that it takes 3
    towers/receiving locations to do accurate TRIangulation as the phone
    is the target device.



  10. #10
    DevilsPGD
    Guest

    Re: Nextel Privacy

    In message <<[email protected]>>
    [email protected] (MarkF) did ramble:

    >> >It actually takes 3 towers...that's why it's called "TRIangulation" ;-)

    >>
    >> Will normal triangulation, two towers can narrow it down to 2 possible
    >> locations with a large margin of error. The two towers, plus the cell
    >> phone form the triangle.
    >>
    >> However, a single cell tower typically has 6 antenna, each facing
    >> different directions. This makes it possible for a single tower to give
    >> you a general direction. The second tower also gives you a general
    >> direction which reduces the margin of error.

    >
    >The only part that is correct is that the carrier can utilize the
    >sectors to give an approximate direction, but it still takes 3 towers
    >to give an accurate location such as a GPS would give.
    >
    >Why would you bother using 2 towers if it gives you a LARGE margin of
    >error? Isn't the goal here to find the person/phone.
    >
    >I still stand by my previous statement that it takes 3
    >towers/receiving locations to do accurate TRIangulation as the phone
    >is the target device.


    It depends on the goal. Accuracy to the meter or less is not always
    required.

    --
    I'm sorry sir, you can't park your van on the diving board.



  11. #11
    rfgdxm/Robert F. Golaszewski
    Guest

    Re: Nextel Privacy

    MarkF wrote:
    > It actually takes 3 towers...that's why it's called "TRIangulation"
    > ;-)


    Nope. With ordinary radio triangulation, it takes 2 receivers with highly
    directional antennas. If on a map you draw a line indicating the direction
    where a transmitter is coming from, where the lines intersect shows where
    the transmitter is. (Of course, should the transmitter be located directly
    on the same line that connects where the receivers are, this ain't gonna
    work.) The problem is that as DevilsPGD posted, a cell tower typically has 6
    antennas (meaning none is highly directional), and thus can only give a
    general idea as to the direction the phone is located, with a significant
    margin of error. Thus even with 4 cell towers, it may not be possible to
    pinpoint a phone with a high degree of accuracy; certainly nothing on the
    level of GPS.
    --
    http://www.dextromethorphan.ws/
    For information about the psychedelic drug DXM, including dangers.





  12. #12
    harryt
    Guest

    Re: Nextel Privacy

    As those guys are going on and on about how many towers it takes to
    track you.... Yes GPS does mean that they can track you. But more
    than likely they will choose not to track you. It is $15 a month
    extra for the feature and that is taking into account that they are
    already spending at least $40 now. Nextel does offer a non-GPS
    version for the older phones like the i1000 like the other guys are
    arguing about. Same price only it is not as accurate as GPS(could be
    up to 15 miles off). Your i730 will use this when it can not see a
    GPS satellite(like in your house).


    "MAT" <marcoatRM_SPAM@DEL_SPAmsnotmail.com> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    > I have a i1000plus provided by my employer which has recently broken. I'm
    > soon to get a replacement i730. I thought I would do a little pre-research
    > on the phone and see that it has the GPS capability, this got me thinking
    > about what information the account administrator has access to. Can the
    > person in charge of our Nextel account casually find coordinates on my
    > phone? Creepy! In hindsight, what are the other privacy issues involved
    > with being under a managed plan? I've never had a cell phone except Nextels
    > from work so I dont know what kind of info is on a billing statement. I'm
    > sure they see incoming and out going calls but how about web-sent text
    > messages? How about direct-connect? Do they see every direct connect on
    > the statement? Yikes, the paranoia bug!




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