Cell phone question

[hwy84]

For you experts
Say I was traveling from point a to point b, cell phone on and in my pocket, could my travels be traced from "hits" on different cell towers? Do the towers pick up my phone when its inactive or just when I use it.
Does it matter what kind of phone I have ie "smart phone"????
What sezs the green screen?

[Coach W]

I'd say you've done something wrong and been somewhere you shouldn't have been.

[Bill's Unlimited]

I know my friend told me about an app that will let you see where your friends are...

[TXChickenRanch]

Yes, from what I was told.

[hwy84]

Come on Coach, why do you have to go there? LOL

Not asking about apps, asking about subpoenaed cell records!
I know if I make a call it dings the cell tower my question is does the phone ding it while on but not in use?????

[manwitaplan]

Yes, from what I was told.

X2

[Lockpro]

Yes it does.

[tmkrueger]

I am Pretty sure any and everything you say here can be repeated.

[Coach W]

Come on Coach, why do you have to go there? LOL

Not asking about apps, asking about subpoenaed cell records!
I know if I make a call it dings the cell tower my question is does the phone ding it while on but not in use?????

Lol... It's just how I roll.

As to the question McGee on NCIS could find you no problem but in real life.. I'm not too sure.

I do know that your phone searches for service continuously whether you're using it or not. Could you be tracked by it? I'd say most definitely. Whether based on what cell phone towers your cell phone is communicating with, or by using the GPS chip included in most cell phones.

But on that same token unless you where riding a bicycle, a horse or an early model 80's vehicle "they" could also track you by your cars gps.

In the early 90's a potential state record mule deer was poached in my area.. I know the poacher... wasnt me .... But as i recall, The game warden followed the gps back to the guy who had poached it and knocked on his door as he was cleaning it in his garage... But it was the buck that had been traced... The gw noticed it was weird when the buck started following roadways into town.

So..... Whatcha been up to? Dump a dead body on the roadside? Or worse.. Make love to a fat girl?

[huntinfool]

Yes, your cell phone is constantly searching for a signal. If it is on it is searching. Whether you are using it or not.

So spill it whatcha done that someone is gonna pull your cell records?

[LWD]

If your cellphone is on, it's searching for a tower. It has to or the phone system won't know where to send the call when you get one.

But cell phone tower data is notoriously unreliable for tracking. There are many reasons why your phone doesn't connect to the closest tower. Common ones are the closest tower is already at capacity and atmospheric conditions affecting transmissions. Your phone could easily be pinging a tower not one but two further away than the closest one. In very densely populated areas where there are many towers, the error in distance is usually less than in more rural, less densely populated areas, but it's still wrong. Assuming that a cellphone always pings the closest tower is wrong, and trying to locate someone based on cell tower data is flawed; you can be miles away from where the cell tower data suggests you are.

Now the GPS data from your phone is entirely different. It's about as accurate as you can get.

LWD

[BrianL]

If it is a non smartphone, it is unlikely that they could go back and find that information. If they are tracking real time, that is a different story. They should be able to tell what towers your phone hit, but only gets within a few miles of a specific area.