Can Your Android Phone Be Tracked When It’s Turned Off?
Reading Time: 3 minutesDoes powering down your Android phone mean that it can no longer be tracked? Here’s what you need to know.
As technology advances, debates continue to arise over geographical tracking. Today, cell service providers, internet service providers, and other parties can track your location through your devices, including your smartphone.
But if you have an Android phone, what happens when it’s turned off? Can your location still be tracked?
How Location Tracking Works
Your geographical whereabouts can be tracked using cell towers and satellites. When you’re near a cell tower, the amount of time it takes your phone to receive a signal back from the tower after connecting is used to determine your location. This is known as cell tower triangulation and can provide a fairly accurate location, with a variance of 500-1500 meters.
And your phone can also be tracked using GPS, or a Global Positioning System, which is built into every model. Your phone receives signals from satellites orbiting the planet, which helps to determine a highly accurate geographical position.
Apps on your phone that need to track your location to function, such as weather, ride-share, and mapping apps can access this information. So, too, can some that aren’t obviously reliant on knowing your precise whereabouts, like Google or social media apps.
But if you turn your phone off, can cell tower triangulation or GPS still track its location?
Can Your Android Phone Be Tracked When Turned Off?
When you turn your phone off, you’re temporarily deactivating all of its functions, including wireless communication. By cutting this off, your phone cannot be tracked via cell tower triangulation or GPS. The only location that can be discerned using these methods is that which was last shown before the device was turned off.
So, the general answer is no, your phone cannot be tracked when switched off. But this has been called into question numerous times.
There have been talks of certain authorities still being able to track your phone when turned off. For example, various reports have come out over the years claiming that the NSA (National Security Agency) can track a turned-off device. For example, Slate published a piece in 2013 discussing the NSA’s alleged tracking of phones, as briefly mentioned in a Washington Post story.
In the same piece, Slate mentioned that in 2006, it was reported that the FBI had ‘deployed spyware to infect suspects’ mobile phones and record data even when they were turned off’. A CNET post was referred to here as the source. It is not known if the NSA is truly capable of tracking phones while turned off, but the reports mentioned seem to indicate that this is the case to some extent.
Certain authorities, such as law enforcement, have also been known to use Trojans to monitor the activity of criminals, with rumors circulating about the possibility of tracking devices when switched off. But, again, this is yet to be officially confirmed.
For any regular individual or company, tracking your location with your phone turned off would be an extremely difficult task, so you likely don’t need to worry too much about apps or your cell service provider keeping tabs on your location if you’ve shut down your phone.
Can You Be Tracked With Airplane Mode On?
Note that turning your phone off is not the same as enabling airplane mode. While airplane mode disables various wireless connections, it does still allow for GPS tracking. Although apps won’t be able to transmit your location in real time, they will be able to continue to maintain a profile of exactly where you’ve been.
You should also note that your phone can also be tracked with the location services turned off. If you’re connected to a mobile network then cell towers will continue to collect the information. Or in more extreme cases, a malicious operator may be able to track your location using malware that is not affected by the deactivation of location services.
Turning Your Phone Off Can Mask Your Location
If you’re looking to completely conceal your location, turning off your phone will certainly do the trick. Simply shutting a device down can eliminate all wireless communications, therefore making your whereabouts known to your cell service provider and third parties.
Reference: https://www.makeuseof.com/can-your-android-phone-be-tracked-when-turned-off/
Ref: makeuseof
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