How To Track A Cell Phone

A cell phone is traceable by using a GPS (global positioning satellite) chip or by using a method called trilateration. Law enforcement is able to track stolen phones, or the phone owner can track the whereabouts of loved ones or employees. Several phone companies offer locating services with their plans, or a tracking service is obtainable separately.

Installing GPS

A GPS chip comes standard in many phones. For older phones, check with the phone manufacturer to see if the phone is compatible with upgrading to GPS. Buy these chips at stores that sell cell phones. The store can install the chip for a fee, or you can self-install them by following the manufacturer's instructions.

GPS tracking services

Many of the larger phone providers, such as Sprint, AT&T and Verizon Wireless have a cell phone tracking service available with their plans. Free cell phone tracking downloads are available from online companies like InstaMapper. Registration is quick, and once the application is running, InstMapper sends the tracked phones GPS coordinates to its servers. Using an interactive Google map, a client can see all of their tracked phones. For social networkers, there is Mologogo. Friends and family are added to personal accounts, and their tracking data shows up on a PC. Phones are usually compatible with these services if they support Java and have a GPS receiver.

Trilateration

Cell phones are still traceable even without a GPS chip, using a process called trilateration. Trilateration determines absolute or relative position of an object by measuring distance using the geometry of spheres or triangles. With cell phones, distance is measured from cell phone towers that have received a signal from the phone. Distance is determined by the time it takes for the signal to travel to the cell phone; distance traveled = speed x time. The cell phone is then known to exist within a set circle around the tower. Using a second cell phone tower and measuring the distance to the phone, another circle is drawn. Where the two circles intersect is the location of the cell phone. Adding the distance from a third tower can give you an absolute location.

All cell phones are still traceable even without a GPS chip using a process called trilateration.

Location-based services are one of the most up-and-coming technologies available to cell phone users. Friends and family are easily located, employers can check on the whereabouts of their employees, law enforcement is able to find lost people and stolen items and transit authorities can measure usage of transit passes. Enabling GPS tracking on phones is easy to do. The hard part for cell phone users is the privacy issues: who to give or not to give tracking consent to.

Adding the distance from a third tower can give you an absolute location