Your car's GPS is also tracking your movements. If you have a newer car then your phone is only part of the problem.
this post was submitted on 14 Jun 2025
504 points (97.2% liked)
Technology
71448 readers
3038 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related news or articles.
- Be excellent to each other!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
- Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.
Approved Bots
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
To be specific, it's not the GPS receiver, it's the fact that the car may be communicating via cell network or satellite, right?
Correct. Yeah, if you have a newer car with GPS, it will likely also have built in communications to the car company.
There are benefits to older, "dumber" cars. Besides enjoying knobs and buttons 😁
Right, but most modern cars have that communication built in, because they use it to update firmware remotely. You can't turn it off even if you wanted to. Many car companies justify it by saying it is needed to give your location to emergency services if you use their alert button.
Idk about other brands but with Mazda you can call and get them to deactivate your car's sim. IIRC in Subarus you can just physically unplug the communication unit.
Don't bring it?!
Also be aware that the Georgia attorney general has declared that not bringing your phone to a protest will be considered criminal intent. They’re now trying to punish people for not having their tracking devices with them.
https://georgiarecorder.com/2024/02/12/georgia-ag-claims-not-having-a-phone-makes-you-a-criminal/
This can probably be argued that places that deny phones, like courts, could be charged with criminal intent against you.
This.
Go old school and bring cameras instead.
correct
If your phone is powered your location can be tracked. Secured or not: your location can always be tracked.
The rest is doubtful, always assume law enforcement has access at will.
Just don't bring it.
doesn't have to be powered on.
unless you can remove the battery, it should stay at home.
Source? EFF says airplane mode is sufficient per the article
so you're going yo trust the government funded org to tell you how to not be tracked by the government?
better yet, you're going to trust the company that actively works with the government under national defense that wants to track you to protect national defense?
no thanks. I'd rather be safe than detained.
What government funding does the EFF take in?
Until I see a shred of evidence that airplane mode doesn't disable the radios, yes, I'm going to trust the manufacturers, the EFF, and my background in EE
I tend to agree (and also an EE). Airplane mode isn't a total panacea, though. It just disables the cellular radio. While it also disables the Wifi and Bluetooth, those can always be turned back on, even while Airplane Mode is active. A motivated state actor can absolutely track via Wifi or Bluetooth. (Possibly even NFC, but the range on that is so low that I think it would impossible to do without seeing what is tracking you).
Turning the phone off is the best solution if you want to keep rhe phone on your person. Guaranteed that all possible avenues for tracking is off, and also has the advantage that even if the phone is seized, the latest phone OSes require the passcode before doing anything at all when they first power up. Even the Police are limited in the data they can get off a phone that has just powered up and is asking for the passcode.
cool. you do you then.
I'll keep doing whatever I need to ensure my freedom by not trusting government or corporate guidelines.
Set your phone on top of a Roomba that has scheduled cleaning throughout the day.
load more comments
(2 replies)
YOU DONT BRING IT.
By leaving it at home.
Leave it at home for a protest if you care about being tracked.
Pretty much all cell phones can be tracked even when turned off.
Source? EFF says airplane mode is sufficient per the article
Could you not wrap it in thin foil to make a faraday cage? If done well it should prevent any signals for going in or out.
puts on thin foil hat
load more comments
(3 replies)
Buy a Burner.
view more: next ›