Cellular phone tower
Privacy

Why Cell Phones Are Inadequate For Private Communication

Cell phones (smart phones) are not a good option for private communications. Why? They way cell phones work is that they are actually mobile radios. They communicate with a network of cell towers – think of these as “relays” for the cell phone network. And for calls to be routed properly, the cell network has to know the physical location of your phone at all times – so it can route incoming calls to your phone. That’s right – when your cell phone is not in airplane mode (or turned off) it is constantly reporting it’s location to the cellular network. And that’s the origin of the term “cellular” network – it’s split up into cells covered with radio towers. Additionally, your voice calls are routed through the cellular provider’s network. Cell phone calls are encrypted – in that you can’t listen to them over the air using a generic radio – but your cell provider can of course decrypt and listen in. How about using Internet connected applications? Internet applications like WhatsApp are a better choice. WhatsApp has end-to-end [Read More…]