16 October 2011

Wifi routers tracking without sim card

Unbeknown to most of the general populous, the humble pocket wifi router is yet another tracking device.

From a Brisbane based I.T. company, a security seminar was recently held dealing amongst other topics, privacy issues.

When a mobile router such as the ones shown in the illustration, irrespective of their branding, most of which are made by Huawei, is connected to the mobile tower network, via the users telco provided sim card, there are mobile status fields which are used in diagnostics tests. Some of these fields included are cellid, RSSI, Eclo, RSCP and Service Status.

It has been a well known fact within the industry that mobile phones are able to be tracked / traced via cell tower triangulation.

It should also come as no surprise that this is also true for pocket wifi routers.

Pocket wifi routers also track the users movements, even without an inserted telco sim card.

Independent test results have shown how effectively the users pocket wifi router can be located to within only tens of meters accuracy, depending on the environment, even smaller tolerances.

Invasion of privacy of the masses is becoming more and more predominant, supported by the new laws that are being passed to allow greater invasion of privacy with the backing of the business community, with the excuse of 'marketing'.

There is very little that Mr. Joe Average can do to stop companies obtaining information about him (in the name of marketing), to hold and sell to others.

Governments are deliberately taking no action to protect the privacy of individuals.

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