From: kentborg@world.std.com (Kent Borg)
Date: Tue, 21 Jun 94 14:02:18 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Tracking Mobile Nodes--was Re: (None)
Message-ID: <199406212102.AA01110@world.std.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Wireless communication does *not* require nodes be closely tracked.
Efficiency demands some tracking but the amount of tracking can be
traded off.
 
I just drove cross-country.  With me were my little hand-held phone
and my Sky Pager.  Lacking battery power (and out of general
principals), I keep the phone off.  The pager, however, was on.  With
this combination I can be in quite good contact with the world yet not
reveal my location if I didn't make any calls.  (Limited money did a
pretty good job of keeping me from making roaming calls.)  Out of
cities the pager coverage is pretty bad--cells have much better
coverage--but the point is that other than my occasional use of phones
(wired and cell) I was a vanished person.  In 1994 I can still buy gas
and new tires with cash and vanish--for a time.
 
(I am behind in my reading so I might repeat you people with this next
comment--sorry.)
 
The physical tracking of phone users is not just theoretical if the
stories are true of finding O.J. via his cellular phone usage.  Where
I sit right now (Venice, CA) police helicopters fly over nearly
constantly watching drug gangs or some such.  That is expensive.  A
few gigs of hard disks is cheap, on the otherhand.  The idea of
logging *all* cell phone movement seems to me not at all far-fetched.
I am glad I know enough about phones that before I got caught I could
accomplish at least several calls through the effective call
"remailers" in the system.  (Isn't there a commercial phone anonymity
service?  It had a catchy 800-number, but I forget it.)


-kb


P.S.  Yes, I am about to go out and buy the SF Chronicle to read the 
O.J. article.


--
Kent Borg                                                  +1 (617) 776-6899
kentborg@world.std.com                                
kentborg@aol.com                                      
          Proud to claim 28:15 hours of TV viewing so far in 1994!