Ever heard of WAZE?

[JohnnyRotten]

Waze is a smartphone app that combines GPS mapping with live updates from users. The users update the road as they drive to alert fellow wazers to things like traffic, construction, speed traps...

Yeah, my concern isn't that you've been "made" in your hidey hole, it's that some banger/creep/psycho who has it in for LEO's now has real time info as to where you are.

Just thought it important enough to pass along.

[lewisipso]

Although it my be futile I rarely use my phone GPS anymore. It wouldn't surprise me if it could somehow be turned on remotely if big brother wanted to find me. Hell, at this point not much would surprise me.

[That Guy]

Yeah, my concern isn't that you've been "made" in your hidey hole, it's that some banger/creep/psycho who has it in for LEO's now has real time info as to where you are.

Just thought it important enough to pass along.

I actually use Trapster at work. It is similar. My known hidey holes are there along with the twenty other spots that I created and voted up as reliable.

[JohnnyRotten]

Thing about Waze is that the traps expire after a certain period if they aren't updated or if someone passes and doesn't see you there anymore. It's way more interactive. No spoofing the system.

[That Guy]

Trap star us the same.

[JohnnyRotten]

I didn't know that. Thanks!

[Odd]

Although it my be futile I rarely use my phone GPS anymore. It wouldn't surprise me if it could somehow be turned on remotely if big brother wanted to find me. Hell, at this point not much would surprise me.

I thought part of FCC E911 requirements going forward from about when smartphones hit was that the GPS is on all the time. Turning it on/off just disables the userspace apps receiving data. Heard it both ways, that it's about upgrading the towers for better triangulation and that it's done at the phone.

Never got a completely straight answer on that though. I want it off to save battery, but if that radio chip is powered up anyway I wouldn't bother with it.

[JohnnyRotten]

The thing about an app like Waze that eats your battery is that it is constantly updating your location which requires constant powering of the location beacon. Most apps only use it for a second then it turns off.

[Xiphos]

I thought part of FCC E911 requirements going forward from about when smartphones hit was that the GPS is on all the time. Turning it on/off just disables the userspace apps receiving data. Heard it both ways, that it's about upgrading the towers for better triangulation and that it's done at the phone.

Never got a completely straight answer on that though. I want it off to save battery, but if that radio chip is powered up anyway I wouldn't bother with it.

That's correct. The newer generation of phones (including dumb phones) have GPS built into the telephony to identify your location when you call 911. We get 911 hang up calls all the time and get the area the phone called from. It's usually butt dialing and people are long gone by the time we get there.

Disabling GPS on your smart phone is only disabling your apps from using the GPS, it doesn't prevent the above.