Comments on: Tin Foil Hat Time: The FBI Eavesdrops On Cellphones, Even When Off

By: pat

pat — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:55:31 +0000

Surely you would notice that, while you haven’t made any calls, your battery has drained.

I’ve bought two phones recently and the average battery life gives you 3.2 hours talk time. That wouldn’t give them much time for surveillance. So they certainly wouldn’t do this on a whim.

By: Kimbakat

Kimbakat — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 17:57:57 +0000

What would be the point of it being propaganda? To keep people from using their cell phones???? Somehow, I don’t think the telecommunications industry would appreciate the Feds or Bush Administration dipping into their profits. They are practically on the same team. By the way..most people are forgetting the use of the “Internal Battery”. It has to have one like every other computer.

These are some of the things I noted that my cell phone did not do 8 years ago.

1. Notify me of my messages 8-22 HOURS after they were sent.
2. Constant clicks or hisses sometimes as if someone else is on a “Party line”..the kind of sound you used to get on LAN lines back in the 70s.

So from what I can guess..it’s a very “true” ability as also discussed about 2 YEARS ago on coasttocoastam.com when they had a security tech expert as a guest. Which I may add..most of the discussion topics talked about here are approx 1 YEAR to 2 months WAY before mainstream media picks up on it.

By: morepowerr

morepowerr — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 20:22:29 +0000

Yes I have seen people hack in to blue tooth phone and have phone install firmware to do just that. The phone looks like it is off but in the back ground it calls 900 numbers and bills the phones user.

So i have no doubt that FBI or CIA could do the same and have it call a number they have set up that don’t use airtime or is billed at all. Or even show up on billing statement.

By: jake

jake — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 18:33:09 +0000

i’ve actually heard of this before.

as i understand it, this has been used against organized crime lately. have you heard the static in speakers before you get a call? often you’ll get that same static w/o making or getting a call – that’s your phone relaying information to your provider.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 15:44:09 +0000

I hope don’t get charged air time…

By: shawn

shawn — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 13:46:13 +0000

Hmmm…. I should start removing my battery when I’m not using my phone…

By: Jay

Jay — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 13:07:29 +0000

In most modern phones, “off” is actually just a sleep mode anyway. They will still deliver a wake-up alarm even when the phone is “off” — so obviously there’s processing still going on at some level. Early Bluetooth phones had a similar exploit that could allow a hacker to eavesdrop on a phone even when the person was NOT in a call, so I would not be at all surprised if manufacturers have been pressured by authorities to provide this back-door for “ethical” crime fighting. I would be more inclined to believe it if the source was something more credible than Fox News, but for now my vote is going to be for POSSIBLE, but not PLAUSIBLE.

By: GadgetDon

GadgetDon — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 12:14:58 +0000

It is barely possible, but highly unlikely, that they could listen in when the phone is in standby mode. HIGHLY unlikely.

The idea that they can listen in when the phone is off…ridiculous.

By: Matt J

Matt J — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 09:19:35 +0000

I’m sure they can listen in when you’re MAKING a call. I can’t believe that they can activate the microphone when you aren’t, let alone when its off.

By: TerminalDigit

TerminalDigit — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 06:33:41 +0000

This feature is only available on the iPhone.