The GPS can be deactivated.

Not all cell phones have GPS.

A cell phone is great to have if you happen to break down in BFE.

Check out my thread about rugged cell phones. A basic phone is perfect, although a few people took umbrage with my comment that Smart Phones have peaked.

 

I hate to admit that I do have facebook, but don't have nearly the obsession with it that most do. I dont do the other BS though, twitter, instagram, etc. There are so many of those stupid things I cant keep up.

I read a really good article about how facebook is F'n all of us up (or those who use it anyways). It basically said how it was made to communicate and keep in contact with distant friends, relatives etc. It has turned into a place that people go to get attention, validation, competition etc. Its about trying to impress people that you really dont or shouldnt give a F about. It is significantly reducing human contact and interaction. The article obviously explained it better, but you get the point. Its sad really.

I made the effort to get off of it awhile ago, and brought it up to my wife that she do the same. Her response: "Well your always on that dodge thingy (yes dodge forum) so why cant i be on facebook" She had a point. The sad thing is that I probalby have better bonds with some people on here that I have never met before than I do with most people on facebook, and I know thats even more true for alot of you on here.

 

A high majority of phones have GPS. I feel you would be hard pressed not to find one. And just because you turn off your side of the GPS, that doesnt take away from the fact that you have to equipment that is capable of it, and who is to say you can trust the equipment and carriers? I would go out on a limb and say that you might not ever fully stop transmitting, and that they could track your phone if they really wanted to.

 

I'm pretty sure if you take the battery out of your phone it is not transmitting anything at all. There still may be an RF ID thing but those are very limited in range, you would have to be within just a few feet of an RF ID reading machine to be detected. its not all like in movies and on TV ya know, there is a real world and all that.

 

On my last couple phones (Droid Razr Maxx, HTC One) the battery cannot be removed. I can disable location services 3 different ways, but I believe there was a note buried in the disclaimers somewhere that my location could still be accessed for emergency services.

I'm quite sure that if the NSA wants to locate my pone, they would have no trouble doing so. I'm not in the habit of turning cooking implements into assault weapons though, so I think that Big Brother would get bored watching me pretty quickly. All the same, If I ever really wanted to disappear, I wouldn't be taking a cell phone with me.

Here's a recent news article to fuel the paranoia:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...-personal-data

 

I'm in the other group. Can't do without my smart phone. Does not cost me a dime though. Company issued.

 

The government does not care how many times you drive to the store to buy toilet paper or beer. If they sat around monitoring everybody that would be impossible to do first off, and it would be a massive waste of resources. Albeit the government is good at wasting resources.

I have an iPhone. I've had one for years. And I love the dang thing. It's so easy to get knowledge these days. Almost anything is literally a google search away and you can be a Wikipedia master of it. The GPS has saved me more times I can count from getting lost. Spontaneous Road trip with friends? Sure I can just use google maps let's go. I normally leave the gps off because it kills battery. But I don't care if anyone was tracking it. They can see how many times I go to McDonald's for all I care.

I know this is a serious breach of privacy for a lot people. And then you get into that "why do you care if you have nothing to hide" argument. And that is stupid too. I don't have anything to hide. So quit trying to pry into my life. But with technology these days. We will never really truly have privacy again.

I for one, am willing to give up a little privacy in the hope that maybe the psycho down the street would get caught trying to do something that could kill/harm people.

Everything has flaws

 

I might need some of this:

 

I agree.

I'm pretty sure I read (while searching 911 issues on U.S. Cellular) that in cases of emergencies your location can be tracked whether GPS is enabled or not.

Just realized I quoted the wrong thread.... Oh well...

 

Thought you guys would get a kick out of this....

http://charlotte.craigslist.org/cto/4305050140.html

Looks like those back tires are just waiting to dig into some sheet metal....