mobile phone turning WiFi on by itself?

donnajunkie

esuhl wrote: »

It's possible, but unless the phone masts are connected to the same network provider that you happen to use, I presume it would cause your phone to drop off the network.

I guess it's not really in the phone networks' interests to allow shops to plug in to their network to track their users. And wifi tracking equipment is probably cheaper and won't require a radio broadcasting licence.

well yeah if you have no signal they cant do it but the chances are if you have no phone signal you have no internet either.

esuhl

donnajunkie wrote: »

well yeah if you have no signal they cant do it but the chances are if you have no phone signal you have no internet either.

What? I don't think you understand.

Wireless access points don't need to be connected to the mobile network provider in order to be used to function.

Mobile base stations would need to be connect to the mobile network, otherwise your phone would lose connectivity to your mobile provider's network. But you would still have access to the rogue base station that is being used to track you. So you'd still have a signal (probably a very strong one).

Intelligence agencies have been known to use mobile base stations in this way as part of a targeted attack on specific individuals, so it's certainly possible.

However, it is much easier and cheaper (and with fewer legal and privacy issues) for commercial organisations to use wifi to track you.