Database Info

Positioning Through GSM/GPRS

Hey all,
A question here, i have heard this story a couple of times now but no proof. So maybe one of you can tell me if its a hoax or not.
I heard about a program that is able to triangulate your position by checking the signalstrenght. The program i heard about would be able to change to profiles to whatever you set them and whenever they should be activated.
For example: you come home, the program finds out you are close to home and puts on another callprofile etc.
The fact is that i know of LBS (location based service) and that those services are also working on the triangulation of cellphones.
Basically it should be possible but i can't find anything about a single program that is able to do something even close to that.
Do some of you have some more information if there is such a program or if its even possible?
Thanks!

I have been looking for that for years. It's the replacement of GPS (carry one more device). However, I search through the webs (visisted more than 100 sites). Some were restricted (police use) and some were requiring service charges per Kb.

Search for "navizon". I remember reading about it on here somewhere - let me know if its what your after and if its any good please.

Specs off navizon are very promising. It claims to use all available cell, wifi & gps data on p2p basis to locate your current position. Unfortunately PIE & Minimo aren't capable of downloading the installl files, so my try-out is a bit delayed.
M

Thanks for the info petest. That looks very promising indeed!
It even has the possibility to let GPS software use it.
I just installed the whole package and fired it up but still no positioning data after 20 minutes.
I'll let it run for a day and see if something happens.
But thanks for the info and i'll let you all know if it starts working!

Cheap GPS solution to track a shuttle bus

Hey folks,
So, I was looking for a cheap solution to track a vehicle. All I need pretty much is updates on the location of the vehicle in Long/Lat every 30 sec or so and a way to read out that information to display it on GMaps.
Any ideas where to start? I mean, basically it's what every smart phone does these days and it wouldn't be hard to create a website that displays the map and the location. It's what Google's Latitude did, just one way. I also looked at things like the app Glympse, which would be one way to go.
But I was wondering if there are dedicated options to run this service. It doesn't need to be a smart phone, I just assume that dedicated GPS units will have better greater accuracy and might be cheaper, because I don't need the other phone functions.
Thanks guys!

Google "fpv gps". They do everything you just said, but idk the range
Sent from my SPH-D710 by using the force

If that doesn't work I have some ninja that I can put you in touch with.

Also check out APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System) used by HAM Radio Operators like my self.
APRS will take data from GPS/GLONASS and send it via VHF (normally but you can do it in any frequency or over the internet). That gets picked up by a repeater that either sends it further away or to an Internet gate. You can track different callsigns here: http://aprs.fi/
You can check the position from your Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/...wxLDEsImRlLmdvZGRjaGVuLmFuZHJvaWQueC5hcHJzIl0.
You can send messages to others.
There even is an app that takes your GPS data, callsign and sends it via internet to a VHF repeater. So no need for an actual radio. https://play.google.com/store/apps/...t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsIm9yZy5hcHJzZHJvaWQuYXBwIl0.
There is a lot of stuff you can do with this, you can send telemetry data, some people send Weather information, messages, status of your house or car.
I did a project at the University for the minibaja car to take the temp of the engine and RPMs to send it with the position, speed, altitude and direction of the car.
If you want to have coverage even when there is no cellphone reception then I recommend using a VHF radio.
The only thing you really need is a HAM Radio license which is easy and cheap to get. If interested let me know and I'll put you in contact with your nearest HAM Club/Association and they will help you out get your license and APRS going.
You can find more info here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Packet_Reporting_System
http://www.aprs.org/
http://www.tapr.org/
Hope it helps.
- XE1YAA

first of all thanks for the ideas guys!
Zainiak said:
Google "fpv gps". They do everything you just said, but idk the range
Sent from my SPH-D710 by using the force
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I looked into it, most of it was used for quad copters. Not really sure, how to put it together to get the information transmitted (GSM?)
MissionImprobable said:
If that doesn't work I have some ninja that I can put you in touch with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey, that would be great - just to explore a few options. Thanks!
alphinux said:
Also check out APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System) used by HAM Radio Operators like my self.
APRS will take data from GPS/GLONASS and send it via VHF (normally but you can do it in any frequency or over the internet). That gets picked up by a repeater that either sends it further away or to an Internet gate. You can track different callsigns here: http://aprs.fi/
You can check the position from your Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/...wxLDEsImRlLmdvZGRjaGVuLmFuZHJvaWQueC5hcHJzIl0.
You can send messages to others.
There even is an app that takes your GPS data, callsign and sends it via internet to a VHF repeater. So no need for an actual radio. https://play.google.com/store/apps/...t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsIm9yZy5hcHJzZHJvaWQuYXBwIl0.
There is a lot of stuff you can do with this, you can send telemetry data, some people send Weather information, messages, status of your house or car.
I did a project at the University for the minibaja car to take the temp of the engine and RPMs to send it with the position, speed, altitude and direction of the car.
If you want to have coverage even when there is no cellphone reception then I recommend using a VHF radio.
The only thing you really need is a HAM Radio license which is easy and cheap to get. If interested let me know and I'll put you in contact with your nearest HAM Club/Association and they will help you out get your license and APRS going.
You can find more info here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Packet_Reporting_System
http://www.aprs.org/
http://www.tapr.org/
Hope it helps.
- XE1YAA
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Click to collapse
This is great! I read through the wiki and a couple other pages. So far this looks really promising. How is the pricing tho? I looked at a few systems, but I feel like they were over the top having a bunch of features I don't really need. I think it is great that it doesn't need to rely on cell phone networks, because we are in a mountainous area.
So if I understand it correctly, the APRS unit would be connected to a GPS unit, reads the location data and sends it out to a station that is connected to the internet to publish the data right?

PSA: Stores using new tech to track us via our phone's wifi

So if you are walking around in public with wifi enabled - you are allowing stores to collect data such as how often and how long you are in their stores.
SOURCE

Wow that's kinda scary. Nice find, thank you.
Why is the right door always locked?

I don't find this nearly as unnerving as the NSA tracking me; if I don't like it, I can take my money elsewhere. We can't "opt out" from government tracking us. Retailers analyzing this data makes them more efficient; has the potential for reducing their advertising and marketing budgets, lowering their costs in one area, helps them lower prices in the long run.

erikoink said:
Retailers analyzing this data makes them more efficient; has the potential for reducing their advertising and marketing budgets, lowering their costs in one area, helps them lower prices in the long run.
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I agree that to an extent this isn't really a big deal; so Dillards knows that you spend more time shopping for men's clothing than women's shoes.. Who cares right? Problem is, will they stop there? No, they wont. We don't know what information could be (easily) collected (and sold) in the future, that is the problem. Today its "customer 74593654 spent and hour in the store total, 20 minutes in refrigerated goods, 10 minutes in the deli, and 30 minutes in canned foods". But tomorrow, it could be "John Doe who visited our store for an hour today, mostly connects to these two wifi points; they must be his home and work locations. We sell his information to our partners in those areas."

I don't really think that they're tracking (or able to track) that type of information. They're just taking advantage of the way the 802.11 discovery process works.
When a WiFi device is on and not associated with an Access Point (AP), it announces it's presence and attempts to discover a nearby AP. APs respond to these queries with their BSSID and SSID which then gets listed in your device's list of connection options. If it's a "hidden" AP, it will only respond if the discovery query includes a specific SSID. Instead of responding, all it does is log the querying devices MAC Address and timestamps it. Other APs can compare the Rx signal strength and approximate the location of the device.
As far as I know, unless and until your device actually associates with (connects to) the AP, no other communication occurs. If there are any WiFI engineers in here that know of a way to force a device to associate to an AP remotely and request it send data that it isn't configured to send, I'm willing to be corrected.

WiredPirate said:
So if you are walking around in public with wifi enabled - you are allowing stores to collect data such as how often and how long you are in their stores.
SOURCE
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Click to collapse
I'd like to bump because im honestly curious if anyone knows what kind of info they could pull from our phones through this.

erikoink said:
I don't really think that they're tracking (or able to track) that type of information. They're just taking advantage of the way the 802.11 discovery process works.
When a WiFi device is on and not associated with an Access Point (AP), it announces it's presence and attempts to discover a nearby AP. APs respond to these queries with their BSSID and SSID which then gets listed in your device's list of connection options. If it's a "hidden" AP, it will only respond if the discovery query includes a specific SSID. Instead of responding, all it does is log the querying devices MAC Address and timestamps it. Other APs can compare the Rx signal strength and approximate the location of the device.
As far as I know, unless and until your device actually associates with (connects to) the AP, no other communication occurs. If there are any WiFI engineers in here that know of a way to force a device to associate to an AP remotely and request it send data that it isn't configured to send, I'm willing to be corrected.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for explaining that better.
Perhaps you connect to their free wifi, it's tempting if you want to save data or maybe you are in an area with bad reception.. Couldn't they then gather more personal information?

WiredPirate said:
Perhaps you connect to their free wifi, it's tempting if you want to save data or maybe you are in an area with bad reception.. Couldn't they then gather more personal information?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See, now if you associate with (connect to) their network, that changes things. But let's explore that hypothetical:
Have you ever heard of a "captive portal"? You see them in airports, hotels, anywhere with a so-called "guest wifi network", whereupon if you connect to their network and try to go to a website, it first redirects you to a page. And this page requires you to enter a password, or answer a survey, or agree to their terms and conditions. I'm sure we've all seen these.
Let's say that part of their terms are you must download their smart phone apps as a condition of connecting to their network and allowing you to be routed onto the global internet. Lets also say that in order to install the app, you have to grant the app certain permissions. Among these reading from areas of your phone, you might not want people reading from. As you suggested in a previous post, your list of saved WiFi networks, etc. Then yes, they could start gathering additional data. In this case, it's still your choice to use their resources, you still have the choice not to. Their network, their rules.
I will say this though.. be careful of how your device is configured. I think the setting is available that tells your device to connect to any available open (unsecured) WiFi network. I would advise anyone to disable this. Once your device connects to any network, and you an IP address on said network, then something could make a connection attempt to a vulnerable/compromised device (whether that be the network owner, or another compromised or rogue device) running some kind of Trojan service that responds to certain requests without you knowing. This of course, would be illegal and if they got caught doing this then they would face a huge backlash from their customers. I doubt they'd attempt something like this.

Mac address is worse enough.
Today's data is aggregated, ALWAYS.
You can buy it you can sell it... There isn't just one source.
Cameras in the shops running track analysis and soon facial recognition, mimics and so on.
Your mac address? Your router knows it.. And so your provider has access to it. He also has your ip.
Your ip? Most websites you visit and some more tracking / advertising sites.
So, as your mac is known, data sold, we assume your owned devices are well known.
Now we don't need anything else than a WLAN to track your GPS like location.. Beside.. This is how android WLAN location service works. Did I say android? Sorry, it is an exclusive google service.
You can:
Adapt your behavior .
Use tor or i2p.
Host your own services.
Encrypt everything.
And again, adapt your behavior... Elseway no onion routing brings any advantage.
So, if you are willing to go the painful road, opt out of most things.. You can't opt out of your phone providers data collection, if you still want a mobile phone.
But still... ANY data reduction is the right way.
The data is and will be more and more widely used, aggregated and abused.
It is time to realize that there won't be any freedom in the modern world - this IS the new world order.
Forgot one freedom: you are free to be a consumer and a product.
And for people arguing with laws... Laws can and will be changed... In the name of safety.
Sent from mobile.

I want to create an unstealable phone.

I want to create an "un-steal-able" phone.
Of course this is impossible, but I want to make it as difficult as possible for thieves to get away with it, and as easy as possible for me to find it.
Assumptions:
Phone has available call and text messaging service.
Phone has internet capabilities and "permanent" Internet access. (We will consider 2G, 3G, or 4G cellular access with a data plan to be permanent. Depending on an open WiFi network to be available at all times is unreliable).
Phone is on and has some charge in its battery. (If the phone is off, we can't do anything).
Phone has an accurate GPS receiver.
Requirements:
Software that relays GPS coordinates via an Internet connection. As a backup for when there is no cellular data signal, software that relay GPS coordinates via SMS
Software cannot be disabled or removed without authentication.
GPS on phone cannot be turned off without authentication (alternative: remote activation of GPS receiver via Internet or SMS)
Cellular data and/or WiFi cannot be turned off without authentication (alternative: remote activation of cellular data via SMS)
Where GPS signal can be used for macro location (within 10 to 30 meters), there must be some method of micro location (within a few feet).
Phone cannot be powered off via any button press, on-screen menu, or removal of battery
Phone cannot be wiped by on-screen menu or by computer cable connection
Now I have approached this solution from two starting points: the iPhone running iOS, or an Android-based smartphone. Both have different advantages and technical details. Let's look at how we can meet each of these requirements one by one.
iOS solution:
Unfortunately, if your iPhone is not jailbroken, your choices are not so great. But FindMyiPhone does do the basic job of relaying GPS coordinates. For a jailbroken iPhone, iCaughtu seems to be the best of the bunch from the research I have done and gives you a bunch of cool anti-theft features.
and
Using the options under Settings -> General -> Restrictions, you can disallow users from deleting apps AND from turning off location services. Of course, you can accomplish something similar by simple setting a password to access your phone. Unfortunately I haven't yet seen any program that allows you to remotely activate the GPS receiver on an iPhone.
Unfortunately I don't think there is anyway to prevent a thief from disabling your cellular connection other than setting a password on the whole phone. This has its advantages and disadvantages.* Similarly, I don't see any way to remotely activate the Cellular Data on an iPhone via SMS.
This is where things start to get more complex and we need to start thinking of actually modding the phone. So far the best RF tracking solution I have found (in terms of size, cost, and effectiveness) is a cheap chinese-made product that I picked up in Asia and cannot find a link to. This one is very similar http://www.amazon.com/Loc8tor-LTD-Loc8torLite-LOC8TOR-Lite/dp/B0012GMDC4/ but the reviews are meh. It is RF-based but does not really give any directional information. Once you are close to the RF transmitter (using the GPS coordinates), you can use the RF receiver to basically play a little game of hot and cold and walk in different directions all while watching if the signal gets stronger or weaker. I've done two real world field test with the similar device and was able to successfully find a purposely concealed bag in a slum twice.
But how do we get this into the phone? If you disassemble the transmitter, it is a very small circuit board, but most phones these days are already packed to the brim. Additionally, these units need power, so you would need to solder it into the phone's power system.
For the iPhone, concerns about a battery-based shutdown are reduced by its "sealed" battery compartment. Of course, with the right tools, someone can get to the battery. But this is not likely to happen quickly and will likely occur in a specific home or shop, from which we can get coordinate data. We only need to delay the thieves long enough to track them. The bad news is that preventing an iPhone from being shutdown via button press is much more difficult. Even with a lockscreen password, anyone can turn off an iPhone with a long power/sleep button press. I found a mod on Cydia that required a password before any shutdown, but it seemed it was only compatible with iOS 5 and I am running iOS 6.
This is the most challenging problem, as the most common method for any experienced phone thief to avoid detection is simply to power off the phone (or disable internet/3G) and as quickly as possible get to a computer and perform a complete wipe using any number of computer programs. A password on the phone can prevent access to the menu options for resetting factory default, but very little can prevent a thief from physically connecting the phone to a computer and wiping it.
Again I turn to physical modding. Would it be possible to modify the iPhone connector in such a way that the pins for power and charging would still work, but the pins for a data connection would require a specially modified cable to conect to the computer? Once my phone is through its initial setup and/or, most anything I need to do as far as data can be accomplished via WiFi. If needed, I would keep my special data cable at my home only and never take it out. But losing the ability to charge from any iPhone cable would be too debilitating to daily usage.
So I ask the experts: how can I improve on or solve these ideas? Is there software out there that I don't know about, either on the App Store or the Cydia Store? Are there ways to remotely control the iPhone's wireless and GPS functions via text? There should be. Any ideas on incorporating a tiny RF transmitter into the iPhone? Is there any way to prevent an iPhone from being shut down via the sleep button? Is there anyway to sabotage the lightning connector in an intelligent way to prevent a computer-based wipe?
*Advantages and Disadvantage of a phone-wide password. Honestly, I would rather not have a lockscreen password on my phone. I'm not a privacy freak and I don't care if a thief sees my pictures of e-mails or Facebook. If my phone is stolen, I'm hoping it is stolen by an idiot and that they WON'T try to wipe the phone. None of my solutions are foolproof. Everything in here is about delaying the thief long enough to track them. If an idiot steals a phone without a password, he MIGHT just use it as is. But if an idiot steals a phone and can't doing ANYTHING with it, he is going to take it to someone who will be smart enough to wipe it MUCH SOONER. Of course, the disadvantage is a loss of privacy, but iCaughtu has a cool solution for that too.
Android solution:
Android phones are much easier to root, and software solutions exist that will work reasonably well even for nonrooted phones. The best software I have seen is Avast! Anti-theft (part of Mobile Security), AndroidLost, and Cerebrus. All of these can report GPS coordinates, and with Avast! at least, you can also see coordinate history online and actually follow the path of your phone through the minutes, hours, and/or days. AndroidLost can report GPS coordinates online OR via SMS!
,
and
Avast! cannot be removed without a pin code. It can also prevent the user from during off Cellular Data and GPS. AndroidLost can be used to activate WiFi, Cellular Data and/or GPS via internet command OR via SMS. There are a ton of other internet-based and SMS commands in AndroidLost as well. Even without an active lockscreen password, a thief would be powerless to disable communication between the tracking software and you. In this department, Android truly outshines the iOS solution.
Getting an RF tracker into an Android-based phone has the same challenges as an iPhone.
I haven't found ANY glimmer of hope for a mode to disable shutdown via a long-button-press on Android. At least I found one mod for iPhone, even if it was the wrong iOS version. This is a huge gap in the goal of building an "unstealable" phone for both operating systems. As for the battery: Android phones come in many flavors. Many have removable batteries, so if you want to make life more difficult for thieves you'll have to limit yourself to a phone with a "sealed" battery compartment such as the HTC One.
A computer-based wipe via USB cable presents the same challenges as an iPhone EXCEPT that we're dealing with a more standard interface so that MIGHT make modding an easier task. Is there any way to make the microUSB jack more "proprietary" so that any normal USB cable can charge it but only a specially one can transmit data?
There is one other detailed I am interested in, but which is, I believe, currently impossible since it would require modifications to the lowest level of the phone's software, and that would be an auto-on feature. If the phone's battery dies for any reason (or any other shutdown that is not user-initiated), I would love for the phone to automatically power back on whenever it receives a new power source (either being plugged into the wall or getting a fresh battery).
Why am I so interested in doing this? I live in a third-world country and I travel to many other third-world countries. For 3 years, I guess I had good luck, but in the past year I have had three phones and a laptop stolen from me on the street and I have been punched in the face. Several of my friends have also had phones stolen during that time, and one friend was even kidnapped and robbed. Maybe crime is getting worse or maybe it is just coincidence. I have tried to be more careful each time, but one should not live life in fear or blame ones carelessness alone. It is time to fight back. Money, time, memories, self-respect, and peace of mind have been taken away from me and from people I care about. These thieves bear the real responsibility for these crimes. And the police and government here is largely unwilling, incapable, uncaring, and/or corrupt. Maybe I can help others as well.
Thanks for your suggestions and input.

Your thoughts are well expressed.
Hopefully something is coming fast to consumers.:good:

Any way to access Carrier Name status and act on it?

Hi all,
I've looked on IFTTT, but I can't find what I need. Maybe someone can help. I work on a cruise ship and sometimes when I leave a port my phone switches from the country carrier (AT&T, which is free on my monthly contract plan) to 'CELLULAR AT SEA' which is a satellite service and costs a fortune. In one day I ran up a bill of £22.00 from the phone just sitting in my pocket. I'd love to find done way of saying 'if carrier = Cellular at sea then switch off mobile data'. Maybe this can't be done without root access. Any thoughts or suggestions? I'd gladly make a paypal donation to someone's favourite charity if there's anyone who could help me.

Hi,
I'm bumping my own post, because I'm SURE my problem has a solution. I'm sure someone at XDA can help! My phone knows which carrier it's connected to, so somewhere there's a software variable which equals the name of that carrier. It must therefore be possible to toggle an existing switch (in my case it would be Airplane on) based on the status of that variable.
Come on guys, someone must know how to do this!
Yours hopefully,
Miles

Have you tried automate or tasker. you can set it on location or cell towers in sure of it. that would solve your problem

Off the top of my head, it needs to be rooted in my opinion. It's worth doing if it coincides with your job?
This is something that could be configured from within the CSC file.
There's actually an app on the Play Store (again, root required) that allows you to search and change the more regularly used commands/code.
It's absolutely doable, even the carrier *could* in theory change this by way of remote update for you, which wouldn't require root.
My carrier allows me to cap my bill by not allowing any chargeable entries unless I specifically ask beforehand.
Maybe something simple, but just to be sure, you've tried manual network selection, correct?