What can you use to cancel out/disable/deactivate hidden devices like these?

[Reason]

What can you use to cancel out/disable/deactivate/locate hidden devices like these?

YouTube - GPS tracker with Microphone for Children (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ba5ZgBZOwM)

[Elwar]

Anything that puts out a transmission can be detected with a receiver tuned to that frequency.

Something like this:
http://www.brickhousesecurity.com/gps-detector-frequency-finder.html

http://www.theronpaulteaparty.com/e107_images/banners/banner.jpg (http://www.TheRonPaulTeaParty.com)

[Anti Federalist]

Fire, and lots of it.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lVuSeDIApQQ/SFKpjJS6osI/AAAAAAAAAYY/wXJ6B0TcbSc/s400/Hank_Scorpio.png

[Tabby]

Would it be illegal to attach these to police vehicles?

[noxagol]

Go to store and buy the biggest fishing weights you can. Take a hammer and flatten it out. Wrap this lead around the device. This should block any transmissions in and out. Wrapping it is brass wire mesh might also work.

[tangent4ronpaul]

One thing that was learned early on by parents using this kind of service on their kids cell phones is that where the cell phone is, isn't necessarily where the kid is. Taking that a step further - it's not hard to imagine a designated GPS bug hauler going where the kid is supposed to be while all their friends go to a party - or everyone leaving their trackers where they are supposed to be.

They don't work if you take out the battery.

They don't work underground and generally in basements / subbasements.

A good tin foil wrap might do wonders.

Pay attention to service areas - these things have to call home to function.

For an actual cell phone - bit harder, but determining what is the GPS chip and clipping the power lead... That or hacking and replacing the firmware.

-t

[Elwar]

My wife and I don't have kids yet but we were discussing these things. We just moved to Florida and it's almost like every other child kidnapping in this country happens in Florida. We figured that by the time we have a kid, there should be a device small enough to look like a piece of jewelry that we'll give to our kid and have them wear.

But we're both on the same page that we don't want to track them when they're teenagers.

http://www.theronpaulteaparty.com/e107_images/banners/banner.jpg (http://www.TheRonPaulTeaParty.com)

[MelissaWV]

My wife and I don't have kids yet but we were discussing these things. We just moved to Florida and it's almost like every other child kidnapping in this country happens in Florida. We figured that by the time we have a kid, there should be a device small enough to look like a piece of jewelry that we'll give to our kid and have them wear.

But we're both on the same page that we don't want to track them when they're teenagers.

There are already things like this out there, and I believe they can be activated by the child in case of emergency (rather than always be on). I recall seeing some watches like this.

[fisharmor]

My wife and I don't have kids yet but we were discussing these things. We just moved to Florida and it's almost like every other child kidnapping in this country happens in Florida. We figured that by the time we have a kid, there should be a device small enough to look like a piece of jewelry that we'll give to our kid and have them wear.

But we're both on the same page that we don't want to track them when they're teenagers.

Odds are just as good - probably better - that your kid is going to drink drain cleaner. Or get hit by a car while playing in the street. (Styrofoam helmets do two things against a car - jack and shit.) Or get mauled by dogs. Or leukemia. Et cetera.

My first memory is from when I went on my first solo outing. I was under three. That was just to the park. I got back home, after some police intervention (didn't really need them back then, either). I sort of remember the next outing, where I left my family when I was in the middle of downtown Seattle.

My parents were obviously pissed when I was disappearing for weekends at a time at age 14, but they knew I'd survive.

Kids are smarter than we think. You'd be amazed at how far just talking to them gets you. My 3 year old daughter wandered off once a couple months ago - she only made it about twenty yards - but we explained to her that it wasn't cool, and why. Now we're explaining to her what to do if she gets lost, and she's getting it.

When you do have kids, remember that there are more good guys out there than bad guys. Odds are better that your kid is going to have things go horribly wrong dealing with state officials who are assumed to be the good guys, than with a random stranger.

[osan]

What can you use to cancel out/disable/deactivate/locate hidden devices like these?

YouTube - GPS tracker with Microphone for Children (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ba5ZgBZOwM)


A Faraday cage?

[pcosmar]

Don't buy it.
Don't use it.

Oppose it's use being forced on yourself or others. ;)

http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=906

I can't tell you how much I appreciate this new technology. I don't know about you, but it's really annoying when your ear tag falls off, and you have to go back to Homeland Security to get another one

[amy31416]

We need one of these for Kludge.

[brandon]

God i can't stand this dude. This guy doesn't seem to understand what "Orwellian" means.

GPS tracking is a great technology. There is nothing Orwellian about it and nothing to worry about. This is just silly.

[MelissaWV]

What pcosmar said :)

GPS technology all on its own isn't "bad" or "good."

I like the little trackers you only activate in case of emergencies. Beacons are good stuff, and they aren't always on. These can really narrow things down for rescuers/family if you're lost on a hike sometime and injured, or your car drove off the road and you're stuck for some reason, or any number of other reasons. This is entirely different than just having an "I'm right here!" light blinking all the time. There is nothing that justifies that and it's unnecessary, imo.

But! to each their own.

[Perry]

That guy obviously doesn't have kids.

[Shredmonster]

Copper Tape

[Uriel999]

I could have a lot of fun with one of those. :D

[silentshout]

I don't have a problem with GPS tracking if one can choose to have it on or off. However, I do have issues with teens being tracked by one of these things. I can see their use for little kids in a crowded airport or something, but to spy on your teen? ugh...If a parent chooses to do that, fine but I won't do that to my kids.

[tangent4ronpaul]

What pcosmar said :)

GPS technology all on its own isn't "bad" or "good."

I like the little trackers you only activate in case of emergencies. Beacons are good stuff, and they aren't always on. These can really narrow things down for rescuers/family if you're lost on a hike sometime and injured, or your car drove off the road and you're stuck for some reason, or any number of other reasons. This is entirely different than just having an "I'm right here!" light blinking all the time. There is nothing that justifies that and it's unnecessary, imo.

But! to each their own.

That's kind of the problem. I haven't found it again, but I remember an advisory for diplomats warning them to take out their batteries, not just turn them off as they can be tracked.

there is this:
http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=10594
(see comments)

Thanks to regulations from the Federal Communications Commission, wireless handsets must know their locations within a few hundred feet, regardless of whether their owner wants it.

Your phone, obviously, is encoded with it's own unique i.d. Newer units can be 'tapped' or 'pinged', if you will, discreetly. That is, the company can send a signal that causes your phone to respond (just as if it were on and ready to receive a call), even when it has been turned 'off' by the user. The reception of the incoming and transmission of the outgoing signals are not (NOT) detectable by the user just by looking at or listening to their phone. (The only way to disable this feature is by disconnecting the battery.)
[...]

Don't think I still have the file available, but this refers to one manufacturer of cell phones

there is good stuff in there. (I know it's long...)

codes that will display last calls received and sent.

codes that will display GPS info as to where the phone has been

codes that let you change the cell phones ID

codes that turn off billing

codes that will let you calculate exactly how far you are from the
cell tower nearest to you...

things like that...

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/11/government_can.html

Government Can Determine Location of Cell Phones without Telco Help

Interesting:

Triggerfish, also known as cell-site simulators or digital analyzers, are nothing new: the technology was used in the 1990s to hunt down renowned hacker Kevin Mitnick. By posing as a cell tower, triggerfish trick nearby cell phones into transmitting their serial numbers, phone numbers, and other data to law enforcement. Most previous descriptions of the technology, however, suggested that because of range limitations, triggerfish were only useful for zeroing in on a phone's precise location once cooperative cell providers had given a general location.

This summer, however, the American Civil Liberties Union and Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the Justice Department, seeking documents related to the FBI's cell-phone tracking practices. Since August, they've received a stream of documents—the most recent batch on November 6—that were posted on the Internet last week. In a post on the progressive blog Daily Kos, ACLU spokesperson Rachel Myers drew attention to language in several of those documents implying that triggerfish have broader application than previously believed.

--
I'm a retired frequency coordinator, electronics person. I have no cell phone, but if I did and I wanted to block the signal, I would simply turn the phone "off" (it won't really be off, but you might save on battery usage), and wrap the entire phone in copper foil. This would be easy and quite effective, but the phone might possibly crank up its RF output attempting to reach a tower, and this could cause more battery usage.

I would not use aluminum foil because aluminum accumulates a thin oxide layer that will eventually break electrical contact between overlapping layers and also affect skin effect (high frequency RF "clings" to the outside of electrical conductors), and the shielding could lose effectiveness. You only need thin copper foil, which you can get at:
http://basiccopper.com/thicknessguide.html


btw: saw something about newer cell phones having a second battery inside the phone so removing the battery doesn't help you.

-t

[Anti Federalist]

Go to store and buy the biggest fishing weights you can. Take a hammer and flatten it out. Wrap this lead around the device. This should block any transmissions in and out. Wrapping it is brass wire mesh might also work.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41v6AI%2BpRwL._SS500_.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/Babolat-Lead-Tape/dp/B00124KTAY

[MelissaWV]

That's kind of the problem. I haven't found it again, but I remember an advisory for diplomats warning them to take out their batteries, not just turn them off as they can be tracked.
...

I wasn't referring to cellphones. There are actual beacons you can get that do not turn on, period, until you use them in case of emergency. I recall seeing smaller versions for children that were a part of wrist watches and similar personal items. It's a portable panic button, basically.

[tangent4ronpaul]

GPS is passive. What you are talking about is a cell phone with a hard coded number to dial, no dial pad and may or may not have a mic, but no speaker. Info on cell phones should apply to them too.

-t