If Local Zone is so accurate, why won't VF track stolen mobiles

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › If Local Zone is so accurate, why won't VF track stolen mobiles

georgebrownlee

17 posts

Geek

#25601 26-Aug-2008 21:06

Well, my idea is pretty much summed up in the title, but just to reiterate; If VF is able to accurately locate your 3G mobile for you when using LZ, it is evident that they have systems in place to locate phones.

I realise that triangulation from cell towers has been around for a long time. However, with the introduction of SeekerZone, shouldn't more precise locating be possible?

Furthermore, what legal implications are there for VF if they did decide to release this information? Why are the NZ police not using readily availible information in order to reduce crime?

</rant>

George

coffeebaron

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#159988 26-Aug-2008 21:28

I'm not sure how LZ works exactly, but my guess is the phone itself detects the "characteristics" of the surrounding cells and uses that data to identify it's zone; rather than the actual cell sites detecting accurately when the phone is.

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johnr

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#159994 26-Aug-2008 21:40

Its not vodafone to play police if a handset is stolen get it blacklisted this is easily done with a police report and proof of purchase. Vodafone or the public (police require a warrant) cant rock on up to private property and say we beleive there is a stolen handset somewhere around here we are going to search the place.

Cost of tracking would far exceed the Value of the handset think of the time per hour wage the list goes on. Are you going to cover the costs?

johnr

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#159995 26-Aug-2008 21:44

And local Zone works on 2G

JoeBloggs

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#160000 26-Aug-2008 22:16

We can fairly easily track which cellsite a mobile is currently connected to. If ethics and privacy concerns are ignored, this would still narrow the culprit down to several square kilometers - completely useless in most situations. Full triangulation is time consuming. It requires a team of people roaming the streets. It can be done in murder cases but unless you can pay serious $ in man hours, have all the equipment set up and ready to go, then get a court order allowing the invasion of said thief's privacy (much harder than you can believe), it's just not worth it. The US has the right idea. They passed a mandate after 9/11 that stipulated all mobile devices had to be embedded with a GPS chip and remote activation. Tracking those is like tracking where your undies went this morning.

johnr

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#160001 26-Aug-2008 22:24

I could just see it now. OK george we have got your $199 Nokia back and here is the invoice for $250,000 for tracking.

Would you like to pay cash or credit card

Bung

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#160010 26-Aug-2008 23:06

So forget tracking. how long would it take before a responsible network cuts off a stolen handset?

johnr

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#160013 26-Aug-2008 23:13

Bung: So forget tracking. how long would it take before a responsible network cuts off a stolen handset?

how long does it take to get a police report and proof of purchase

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georgebrownlee

17 posts

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#160062 27-Aug-2008 09:11

I realise that traingulation is both time consuming and expensive. However, my original post pertained to the use of LZ to make things easier.

I guess what I should have asked is, "with the introduction of LZ, will tracking stolen mobiles become easier and more accurate for VF and the police?"

Dratsab

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#160074 27-Aug-2008 10:01

georgebrownlee: I guess what I should have asked is, "with the introduction of LZ, will tracking stolen mobiles become easier and more accurate for VF and the police?"

It's not done now, and I can't see it being done in the future because, as has already been pointed already, the associated high costs of tracking vs the value of the handset do not balance out.

So a quick and simple answer for you is "no".

The US GPS scenario referred to will be for helping agencies (much higher up the food chain than police) track identified targets.

JoeBloggs

355 posts

Ultimate Geek

#160096 27-Aug-2008 11:40

georgebrownlee: I realise that traingulation is both time consuming and expensive. However, my original post pertained to the use of LZ to make things easier.

Well alright then, if a thief steals your LZ mobile - and stays in your LZ zone - we'll track him down for you

JoeBloggs

355 posts

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#160097 27-Aug-2008 11:40

johnr: I could just see it now. OK george we have got your $199 Nokia back and here is the invoice for $250,000 for tracking.

Would you like to pay cash or credit card

Haha, that would go down a treat!

Torque

379 posts

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#160104 27-Aug-2008 12:00

Full triangulation has been done before in criminal cases where the cell tower wasn't enough.

Otherwise, the cell tower tends to be reasonably sufficent. Every few hours when the cell phone polls (or whenever an outgoing call or SMS or similar is sent) it states what cell tower it was connected to at the time.