From: A1 ray arachelian (library)  <rarachel@ishara.poly.edu>
Date: Fri, 13 Aug 93 07:52:58 PDT
To: szabo@netcom.com (Nick Szabo)
Subject: Beepers can also be used to track you down!
In-Reply-To: <9308130806.AA01571@netcom4.netcom.com>
Message-ID: <9308131050.AA28463@ishara.poly.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


While you're at it, don't forget to mention that beepers have a "ping" option
in them.  If you were a crook on the run, and you were stupid enough to not
have ditched your beeper you can easily be tracked down.

The beeper ping command can be used (supposedly) to track down stolen or lost
beepers.  The Ping itself also disables the beeper from that point on.

Basically, they'd send pings to your beeper throughout the city they expected
you in, then they'd find out which cell you were in.  After that, they can
use a small radar-like gun to actually find your beeper, also by pings.

There's probably a way to disable the transmitter in the beeper, but I
wouldn't want to mess with a device that tiny.

Right now, this is all fine and great, but what would happen when your company
pays for the beeper and decides to track you down and see if you actually did
have your beeper off when you said it was off so you wouldn't be bothered
at home???  I'd say that's a major privacy tresspass right there.

Of course there's always the "button" technology which basically tracks
down employees....